Germantas Kneita
The NBA 3-point contest has recently become the main attraction on the All-Star Saturday schedule. It is the one contest that carries a certain amount of prestige that NBA stars have continued participating in. This year is no different with superstars Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum and Julius Randle taking part. The format is simple. Each contestant has 70 seconds to knock down shots from 5 racks. Each rack contains at least one money-ball worth double points. The contestants get to choose where to place their money-ball rack before the contest. There are also 2 shots in each round from 3-point range worth 3 points each. The 3 top scores from the opening round advance to the Championship round and do it all once again.
Now lets take a deeper look at the favourites this year and my pick to lift the trophy at the end of it all.
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Buddy Hield (+420)
Buddy Hield has won this contest before and is rightfully one of the favourites to win it in 2023. He leads the NBA in 3-pointers made this season, shooting at a 42.6% clip from beyond the arc. He is however a better shooter in pull-up situations this year percentage-wise. With no dribbling in the contest, he is not fully playing to his strengths. He has shot below his season average in terms of percentage in 3 of his last 4 games before the break. With him not being in the best form, we may see a repeat of his 2019 performance when he finished only 3rd. The Indiana Pacers guard can be a streaky shooter, and recent form suggests he could struggle to put together two strong rounds.
Damian Lillard (+470)
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard will be competing in his third contest, having previously done so in 2014 and 2019. He failed to reach a score of 20 or more each time, not making the Championship Round either time. It could be a classic case of him being a better scorer than shooter. He has made only 36.5% of his catch-and-shoots this season. While he may be better suited to making a deep 3-point shot than most in the field, since he tends to take it in games, it may not be enough to compensate for the historically poor performances from him in this competition.
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Jayson Tatum (+550)
Jayson Tatum may be a bit of a dark horse to win the contest. He made the final round in his last attempt in 2021 but he struggled shooting from the corners in both rounds. It has been one of his favourite shots this seaso so look for improvement on that front. While he is making only 35.7% of his 3-pointers this season, that figure is brought down by his 28.6% shooting on pull-ups. He makes 43.2% of his 3-pointers when he does not dribble before shooting, so this contest should play to his strengths. I expect to see him at least in the final round on Saturday night.
Final Prediction: Jayson Tatum (+550)
While Kevin Huerter and Lauri Markkanen could be in the mix too, I think this one will come down to a battle between Hield and Tatum. I am backing the Celtics man to come out on top. He showed great potential in his first 3-point contest and should have learned from that experience. He is making 44.7% of his 3-pointers when no defender is within 6 feet of him this season. That makes him a strong candidate to cause something of an upset.
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