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Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard takes home the 3-point title on All-Star Saturday, while the Utah Jazz claim the Skills Challenge on home court.
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard won the 3-point contest at the NBA All-Star Game on Saturday, beating Indiana teammates Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton in the final round.
Lillard represented his school and his brand, and he did them both proud.
He was wearing a custom Weber State jersey with ‘Dolla’ on the back. Weber State is his university; she performs music under the name Dame DOLLA And when she got the trophy, she was wearing a Blazers warm-up jersey for that moment.
“They say third time’s the charm,” said Lillard, who captured her first triple title on her third attempt at the event. And I’m happy that it happened here. It’s a perfect situation. I’m glad I did it at home, coming back here to Utah.’
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard won the 3-point contest at NBA All-Star.
Lillard wore a custom Weber State jersey with her rap name ‘DOLLA’ on the back
Lillard won the final round with 26 points. Hield had 25 and Haliburton scored 17.
He played his college games in Ogden, Utah, about a half hour from Salt Lake City. And the historical ramification of finally getting a 3-point title was not lost on him.
“The best shooters in the history of our game, most of them have one of these,” Lillard said as he held up the trophy. ‘I just wanted to do it at least once. And now I have it, so I can retire from it.’
Haliburton won the first round with 31 points. Lillard was 26 and Hield was 23.
In the first round, Jayson Tatum of Boston, Lauri Markkanen of Utah, Tyler Herro of Miami, Julius Randle of New York and Kevin Huerter of Sacramento were eliminated.
SKILLS CHALLENGE
Utah earned a victory to open the All-Star Game on Saturday night.
The Jazz, a roster made up of Utah players Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton, won the Skills Challenge on Saturday night, prevailing in two of the three contests.
“It feels good, especially to do it against the home team,” Sexton said.
The Rooks were second, with Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, Detroit’s Jaden Ivey and Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. scoring 100 points.
“I had a lot of fun doing that even though we took the L,” said Banchero, who was part of the winning team in Friday’s Rising Stars games. ‘It was really fun to get out there in front of the fans. Skills Challenge, I watched that all the time growing up during All-Star Weekend. So to be a part of that was great.’
The Antetokounmpos were third, with Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Alex Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday, a replacement for injured Milwaukee Bucks teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo, sitting out.
The Rooks won the team relay by 100 points, after posting the fastest time in a field where teams had to complete a 35-foot walk-out pass, dribble up court, a short throw, a 3-pointer into the left corner and then a dunk in the Other ending.
The next step was the team passing event, won by the Jazz, which gave them 100 points, after they were the most accurate in a series of 35-foot exit passes, 20-foot bounce passes, and chest passes. 25 ft.
It ended with the Team Shooting event, worth 200 points, with the Jazz prevailing there to clinch victory.
“We did it for Utah, man,” Clarkson said.
The Utah Jazz won the Skill’s Challenge thanks to (L-R) Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler and Jordan Clarkson