BY Michael Wallace

Heat guard Dwyane Wade had a bad feeling before he attempted to defend his title in the Playstation Skills Challenge on Saturday night during the All-Star Weekend festivities.
Turns out he was on to something. Wade's two-year reign as champion in the basketball obstacle course competition ended in the first round, when he had the slowest time in the field and finished in 53.9 seconds.

Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams won the competition by posting a time of 25.5 seconds to defeat Wade, Jason Kidd and Chris Paul.

''I'm a step slower, a little older and you've got these younger guys,'' Wade, 26, said, referring to third-year guards Williams and Paul. ``You never know what's going to happen. You never know if you're going to pass it right or make the shot.''

Wade struggled to do both along a course that tests dribbling, passing and shooting skills. He lost the ball while dribbling around stationary defenders at the start of course. He then missed three shots from the top of the key, was off-target on a chest pass and missed three layups.

''It's always fun,'' said Wade, who has been slowed by knee, shoulder and shin injuries this season. ``But it's also always a big challenge.''

• Wade did show his appreciation to a couple of young fans in the Big Easy crowd, giving his shoes to a pair of kids who were wearing Wade's Heat jersey.

• Former Heat guard Jason Kapono, now with Toronto, repeated as champion of the 3-Point Shootout, and tied a competition record with a 25-point final round.

• Despite his notable height advantage -- or, in this case, disadvantage -- Orlando big man Dwight Howard took home the Slam Dunk Contest trophy, beating out Minnesota's Gerald Green in the final. Jamario Moon (Raptors) and Rudy Gay (Grizzlies) were eliminated in the first round