SAN FRANCISCO – Buddy Hield took ball off after ball from the last rack, and as each shot swished through the net, the home crowd cheered on the Warriors’ only contestant 3-Point Contest.
in the NBA’s on All-Star Saturday nightHield missed only one shot off that final rack, and he made his grand finale “money ball,” but he was still a point shy of celebrating.
Instead, the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro won with 24 points, and the difference was he made his final two shots to open the final round.
Oakland native Damian Lillard, the event’s two-time defending champion, did not advance out of the first round. The last of eight competitors, Lillard started off by making five consecutive shots, only to miss five in a row, then coming up a point shy of advancing.
Wedged between the Skills Challenge and the Dunk Contest, the 3-Point Contest lacked the exhilaration found a year ago on All-Star Weekend, when Lillard won his second straight title and edged WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu in a separate challenge.
Steph CurryCurry, who won this shootout in 2015 and ’21, this weekend, nor did he compete in Saturday’s shootout. Following a trophy presentation to Herro, fans finally got a glimpse of the NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter: Curry, who was introduced on the videoboards while sitting courtside before the ensuing Dunk Contest.
