Damian Lillard won a record-tying third 3-point contest during NBA all-star weekend on Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, besting Phoenix's Devin Booker and Charlotte's Kon Knueppel in the final round with a 29-point showing.
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Lillard, who tore his left Achilles tendon while with the Milwaukee Bucks in the playoffs last season, competed as member of the Portland Trail Blazers and tied Larry Bird and Craig Hodges for most titles in competition history. Lillard, who the Bucks released in the offseason and re-signed in Portland, has been out all season rehabbing the injury.
Lillard won the competition in 2024 as a member of the Bucks. He also won the 2023 event as a member of the Trail Blazers.
He needed Booker, who scored 30 points in the first round, to cool off and the Suns star did at the very end, missing his last three shots to finish with 27 points.
Knueppel, a Wisconsin Lutheran alumnus, advanced to the final in his first 3-point contest by scoring 27 points in an impressive opening round. But, the Milwaukee native shot first and sat for a long time as the other five competitors were shooting, and perhaps the wait cooled him off as he scored 17 in the final.
Bucks big man Bobby Portis Jr. did not advance out of the first round after scoring 15 points. It was his first 3-point competition.
Whitnall High School alumnus and Miami Heat sharpshooter Tyler Herro was the event's defending champion, but missed the event due to injury.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Damian Lillard bests Kon Knueppel, Bobby Portis to win 3-point contest