INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Damian Lillard isn't playing this season. He still scored big anyway, winning the 3-point contest on NBA All-Star Saturday Night over Devin Booker.
Lillard tied Larry Bird and Craig Hodges with his third title, most in the contest's history. Defending champion Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat didn't compete.
Lillard scored 30 points in the final round, edging Booker, who got hot early but tailed off and finished with 27. Booker of the Phoenix
Suns was the champion in 2018.
“I was praying for his downfall,” Lillard said.
Charlotte Hornets standout rookie Kon Knueppel finished third with 17 points, wrinkling his nose at the result.
Lillard won his first title in 2023 while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. He won it again the following year with Milwaukee. He's not playing for the Blazers while rehabbing from a torn left Achilles tendon. Still, he told the NBA he'd suit up for the contest if he needed.
“That’s all I do it for, keep adding to my legacy,” he said.
Booker was the top scorer after the first round with 30 points. Knueppel and Lillard were tied for second with 27.
Lillard fired away in the final, with the The Wall section of fans at the Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome holding up red umbrellas in a sign he was making it rain.
“You just got to let the ball fly, trust your instincts as a shooter, and you can’t get ruffled when someone else gets hot,” Lillard said.
Eliminated after the first round were Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Norman Powell, Jamal Murray and Bobby Portis Jr.
Among the celebs on hand were Spike Lee, Magic Johnson, Queen Latifah, James Worthy, comics Keegan-Michael Key and Chris Tucker and singer Joey Fatone. Ludacris performed “All I Do Is Win” and other hits in a flame- and firecracker-filled show before the dunk contest.
Team Knicks, comprised of Karl-Anthony Towns, Allan Houston and Jalen Brunson, won the shooting stars trophy with 47 points. Lee, wearing his New York bucket hat, grinned from courtside.
They rallied in the final seconds to beat Team Cameron's Knueppel, Jalen Johnson and Corey Maggette, who finished with 38 points.
Brunson's father, Rick, a current Knicks assistant, served as the winning team's “celebrity” passer.
“He did his job,” the younger Brunson said.
Team Cameron, a nod to the trio's alma mater of Duke, took its passes from actor-comedian Anthony Anderson.
Ron Harper Jr., Dylan Harper and Ron Harper of Team Harper, along with Team All-Star's Richard Hamilton, Chet Holmgren and Scottie Barnes were eliminated after the first round.
Teams had 70 seconds to score points while rotating through seven designated shooting locations around the court, with all three players on a team shooting at each spot in a set order.
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