NBA Three-Point Contest Summary: Dame Successfully Defends Title

February 18, 2024

NBA Three-Point Contest Summary: Dame Successfully Defends Title

In typical Dame style, the victory hinged on the last shot.

Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks successfully defended his three-point title, narrowly defeating Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves with a score of 26-24. Lillard, renowned for his clutch performances, faced intense pressure during the final moments of his last round. Tied with Young's score after going 4-of-5 on his money ball rack, Lillard missed the first four shots on his last rack but secured victory by making his money ball with 3.5 seconds remaining on the clock.

"When I reached the final rack, I wasn't aware of my exact score, but as I missed a couple of shots, I heard the crowd reacting. Despite the misses, the crowd's continued reaction indicated I was still in the running. After missing the next two shots, I grabbed the last ball, realizing I needed it to secure the win," explained Damian Lillard. On the other hand, teammate Malik Beasley had a challenging night in his three-point contest debut, posting the lowest score of 20 points. Despite having an opportunity to surpass Donovan Mitchell on his final rack, Beasley missed two of his three shots on the money ball rack, leading to his elimination. Mitchell was eliminated after Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves scored 26 points.

Twenty-six emerged as the standout score of the night, with Trae Young, Karl-Anthony Towns, Tyrese Haliburton, and Damian Lillard all reaching that mark in the initial round. The tie prompted a four-way 30-second tie-breaker round. Young started with 15 points, followed by Haliburton with 11 and Towns with 16. Lillard needed a crucial shot at the end to eliminate Haliburton in the tiebreaker. After scoring 10 points from his first two racks, Lillard nailed the Starry three-point shot from 29 feet out with 5.6 seconds remaining, hitting three more shots to conclude the tiebreaker with 16 points. Towns and Young then posted 24 points in the finals before Lillard emerged victorious.

Lillard expressed, "This one I thought everybody shot at a pretty high clip in the first round, the tie-breaking round, and the final round. Everybody shot well. This one was a little bit more fun, I guess a little bit more rewarding because we had to really shoot it in to win. That’s what feels good, doing it two times in a row."

Lillard achieved significant historical milestones with this performance, becoming the first player since Jason Kapono in 2006-2007 to win back-to-back three-point contest titles and the first Bucks player since 2001 to secure the victory (Ray Allen). Additionally, Dame became the first player in the contest’s history to win with two different teams (Trail Blazers and Bucks). He will return tonight alongside Giannis Antetokoumpo and Doc Rivers for the 73rd NBA All-Star Game, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CST on TNT.

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NBA Three-Point Contest Summary: Dame Successfully Defends Title

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