CHICAGO -- Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield won the 3-Point Contest at NBA All-Star Saturday night by making his 54th try of the night.
Hield splashed a "moneyball" for a one-point win over Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, who won the event in 2018.
Booker had 20 points in the finals when he reached his final rack -- two-point moneyballs in the corner -- and canned three of his five tries to get to 26 points.
Hield and Booker tied in the first round.
The top three scorers in the eight-man field advanced: Booker, a late sub for Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Hield scored 27 total points, and Washington Wizards forward Davis Bertans had 26 in Round 1.
Bertans shot first in the final round and made 4 of 5 moneyball attempts, tallying 22 points.
The rules of the contest were changed this year. Each made 3-pointer was worth one point with a few exceptions.
Two stations and 10 seconds were added to the traditional five-rack setup, with the extra shots worth three points and 6 feet behind the NBA 3-point line on the floor at 29 feet, 9 inches.
Contestants also have one rack of five basketballs that count double (two points) -- moneyballs -- they can set either in the corner, wing or top of the key.
The five players eliminated in the first round of shooting were defending champion Joe Harris (22) of the Brooklyn Nets, hometown rep Zach LaVine (23) of the Bulls, Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson (19), Charlotte Hornets guard Devonte' Graham (18) and Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (15).
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CHARLOTTE -- Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris defeated Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry in the 3-Point Contest on All-Star Saturday Night at Spectrum Center.
Harris made nine in a row on the second and third racks and again mopped up on the moneyball rack with all five going in for a 26-point round. He reached the finals with 25 points in the opening round.
Curry, who made the three-man finals along with Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield, fell short despite making nine of his first 10 to open the championship round. He finished with 24 points in the finals.
Harris said, "Just fortunate to be here, we were talking about it coming in, some of the best shooters of all-time."
He added that he gained an edge by starting the event as the first shooter.
"I actually thought it'd be an advantage," Harris said.
Hield went 4 of 5 on each of the final two racks and totaled 19 in the finals.
Curry brought the crowd to its feet with 27 first-round points, draining all five of his final tries on the moneyball rack and 10 straight.
Each shooter had five racks of five basketballs, one in each corner, one on each wing and one at the top of the key. Four of the racks have a moneyball, worth two points, and one rack is positioned at the shooter's preferred location -- with five moneyballs. That rack has a potential value of 10 points.
Curry was the second-to-last shooter in the opening round, before defending champion Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns finished with 23 to bow out, sending Curry, Hield and Harris to the finals.
Hield claimed the early first-round lead with 26 points with four made moneyballs on his final rack.
Harris set the bar high out of the gate to open the shooting. He drained all five of his shots on his final rack and made nine of his final 10 to rack up 25 points in the first round.
Toronto Raptors guard Danny Green nearly put himself in the finals with 23 points.
Seth Curry put up 16 points, sparked by a streak of four splashes in a row on his second rack, before Portland Blazers teammate Damian Lillard was credited with 17 points. Lillard was dropped from the leaderboard by Green.
"It's like a dream come true coming out here," said Seth Curry, a Charlotte native who is Stephen Curry's brother. "I dreamed of being in the 3-Point Contest ... and putting on a show."
Hometown favorite Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets had 15 points, getting three of his five from the moneyball rack to go down. Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, a former 3-point champion, ran out of gas and had 17 points.
After making his first three attempts, Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton had 11 points.
--By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
source: news.abs-cbn.com
