Portland Trailblazers’ guard Damian Lillard saw off stiff competition from the Indiana Pacers’ duo of Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton in the three-man final round to claim the 2023 Starry 3-point contest at the ongoing NBA All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City.
The sharpshooter, who was competing for the third time in the event, came out victorious thanks to his precision on the “Starry” shots in front of a star-studded crowd at the Vivint Arena in Utah.
This year, the NBA added an interesting twist to the contest by adding two “Starry” balls to juice up the competition even more for the long-range specialists. The balls were placed deep behind the 3-point line on each side of the middle rack, about 30 feet away from the basket
Each shot from the “Starry” range counted for three points, and Lillard used them to his advantage in walking away with his first trophy in the Starry 3-Point Contest.
The seven-time All-Star knocked down two of them, including a two-point money ball from the corner in the final round, as he claimed a 26-25 victory to see off 2020 winner Hield.
Congrats @Dame_Lillard! 🏆#Starry3PT #StateFarmSaturday #starryhitsdifferent #starrysoda @starrylemonlime pic.twitter.com/3XryhlBZZN
— NBA (@NBA) February 19, 2023
Pacers’ guard Haliburton looked like the favourite early on as he powered past everyone to tie a 3-point contest record in the first round with 31 points. He scored four of five shots in an all-money-ball final rack to close out the initial round.
Lillard finished the first round in second place with 26 points, followed by Hield, who had 23 points to start the competition.
The 32-year-old is averaging 31.4 points per game and he is shooting 37.2% from 3-point range.
Full 2023 3-point Contest Participants
Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers)
Tyler Herro (Miami Heat)
Buddy Hield (Indiana Pacers)
Kevin Huerter (Sacramento Kings)
Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz)
Julius Randle, New York Knicks (Replaced injured Blazers guard Anfernee Simons)
Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
