Klay Thompson Tops Steph Curry to win the 3-Point Contest
The Splash Brothers made a strong showing in the 3-Point contest on All-Star Saturday Night, but it was Klay Thompson that came away with the win. With 27 points in the final round, Klay beat Steph Curry’s 23 to claim the title. This is the first time that teammates won back to back 3-point competitions.
From ESPN:
“Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors beat teammate Stephen Curry to win the 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday night.
Thompson scored 27 points in the final round, making his last eight shots to beat Curry and the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker. Curry scored 23 points and Booker finished with 16 in the final round.
Curry was the event’s defending champion.
Thompson made 19 of his 25 shots in the final round, and that even bettered his 18-for-25 showing in the first round. Combine them, and Thompson shot a staggering 74 percent — 37-for-50 — from long range over the course of the night.
Booker got his spot after beating the Houston Rockets’ James Harden and J.J. Redick of the Los Angeles Clippers in a tiebreaker round. Those three all finished with 20 points, and then Booker won the tiebreaker with 12 more points over Redick (nine) and Harden (eight).
The Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry (15), Portland Trail Blazers’ C.J. McCollum (14) and Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton (13) were eliminated before the tiebreaker.
The big men are back at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. Karl-Anthony Towns showed that.
The Minnesota Timberwolves rookie center beat Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas to win the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, further validating the evolution of the big man from a plodding post player to a playmaking force.
In the first year that frontcourt players were allowed to compete against the guards in the event that puts a premium on ballhandling, passing and perimeter shooting, Towns beat Golden State’s Draymond Green and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins in the big men side of the bracket before edging Thomas in the finals.
“I’m glad I was able to help the bigs come out with this trophy,” said Towns, the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft. “This is bigger than me. This is for all the bigs out there, with the game changing the way it is, to show that bigs can stand up with guards and skill-wise.”
It’s been four years since the NBA decided to eliminate the center position on the All-Star ballot in response to the dearth of talent at the position and the evolution of the game from post-centric offenses to pace and space.
With his ability to handle the ball, shoot the 3 and make the extra pass, Towns is the epitome of the improving big man. But heading into the competition, there were doubts that the big fellas could keep up with the small fries. Even Towns’ teammate, point guard Ricky Rubio, joked last week that he had no chance.
“I like proving people wrong, so I’m glad I was able to make a lot of people wrong,” Towns said. “I was able to make critics wrong, Vegas wrong, Ricky Rubio wrong. So I’m just so ecstatic right now.”
The course required players to weave through some obstacles, throw a pass through a target, dribble the length of the court for a layup and then make a 3-pointer.
After Towns hoisted the trophy, Green, Davis and Cousins joined him on the podium to celebrate.
It’s already been a banner weekend for the young Wolves. Zach LaVine won the MVP of the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night in a game that also featured Canadian star Andrew Wiggins scoring 29 points.”