Rookies are up to challenge

Youth was finally served, after so many years of the rookies being picked over like a cheese platter.

The first-year NBA players put together an inspired performance Friday night at American Airlines Arena in the Rookie Challenge, resulting in a 140-128 victory over the sophomore team that snapped a seven-year losing streak.

It was the first triumph by the rookies since Jason Richardson led them in 2002 and only their third in 11 games since the current format of competing against second-year players was adopted in 2000. The sophomores had won by an average of 22 points during their winning streak and let their counterparts know about the dominance.

“We were trash-talking before the game, we were trash-talking last night. I’m still going to trash-talk tonight,” Miami forward Michael Beasley said.

They might have trouble coming up with something to say.

Sacramento guard Tyreke Evans scored 26 points and was selected the most valuable player for the smaller, quicker rookies, who also received 22 points and 23 rebounds from San Antonio’s DeJuan Blair. The 6-foot-7 forward more than held his own against 7-footers Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol, registering the first 20-20 in the history of the event.

“The rookies, they really played together and they were really feisty,” said Clippers shooting guard Eric Gordon, who had six points. “You could tell they were hungry for a win way more than we were.”

Gordon suffered another defeat when he repeatedly struggled with his timing and lost to Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozan during a halftime dunk-in. DeRozan advanced to face the Lakers’ Shannon Brown, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace and defending dunk contest champion Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks in Saturday’s main event.

The rookies took it to their elders for most of Friday’s game, with the sophomores enduring stretches uglier than TNT broadcaster Craig Sager’s pink checkered suit. The only breakthrough performance came from Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook, the former UCLA star, who had 40 points on 18-for-29 shooting.

The dunk contest was also somewhat of a rout, with DeRozan receiving 61% of fan votes. He started it with a between-the-legs move that he finished by stuffing the ball with his left hand and followed with a windmill dunk after a running start.

Gordon had trouble with both of his dunks. He needed six attempts on his first try, finally settling for a less ambitious routine in which he lobbed the ball off the backboard and grabbed it for a windmill dunk.

“I was trying to bounce it off the ground, hit the backboard, catch it backward and bring it all the way down and finish it off,” he said. “After a couple of times I got tired and had to do something else.”

Gordon also scrapped plans to have Clippers teammate Chris Kaman feed him a pass on his second dunk after the 7-footer was delayed by travel problems associated with the winter storm that blanketed the area. He instead took feeds from Memphis guard O.J. Mayo, needing three alley-oop passes before he completed a reverse dunk.

Etc.

The Dallas Mavericks have reached a tentative agreement to send Josh Howard, Drew Gooden and two other players to Washington for swingman Caron Butler, center Brendan Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson, according to the Dallas Morning News. The deal needs NBA approval.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com