Damian Lillard Defended His Title At The 2024 Three-Point Contest

INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time since 2007 and 2008, someone went back-to-back as the winner of the Three-Point Contest at the NBA’s All-Star weekend. Damian Lillard, the Milwaukee Bucks’ sharpshooter who won the competition last year while he was a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, took down fellow former champ Karl-Anthony Towns and Trae Young to defend his crown at Lucas Oil Stadium.

First Round

Young started off the round, and while he was cold to start, he managed to pick things up as his round went on. This included a perfect 5-for-5 from his moneyball rack to set the bar extra high with 26 points. While Donovan Mitchell didn’t have as much success with his moneyball rack — he only knocked down two of his five attempts — he still managed to put up a respectable 21 points.

The hometown hero went third, with Tyrese Haliburton putting on a show for the Naptown faithful. Unlike the previous two competitors, Haliburton got hot from the jump and never relented, as he went into his moneyball rack with the potential to move into first place. He didn’t quite get there by missing one offering, but his 26 points still put him into first alongside Young.

After Milwaukee Bucks sharpshooter Malik Beasley was unable to punch a spot in the final round with a 20, a former champion stepped up in Towns. His performance on his moneyball rack (he knocked down four of five shots) and his ability to hit a Starry shot worth three points meant he eliminated Mitchell before he made it to his final rack, and he was able to register 26 points to set up a three-way tie.

Jalen Brunson found himself in a good spot heading into his final rack, which was made up entirely of moneyballs. But unfortunately, he needed to make at least three of those to move into a tie atop the leaderboard, and because he only hit two, the New York Knicks star saw his event come to an early end. Lauri Markkanen met a similar fate, as he was mathematically eliminated as he entered his final rack. While he made all of his shots, he could only reach 25 points.

To end the round, Lillard knew exactly what he needed to do. He put his moneyball rack second, and while he only hit two of them, he was able to hit a Starry shot and get hot on the next two racks. Needing at least three shots and his moneyball to go in on his final rack to secure a tie, Lillard managed to accomplish just that, setting up a four-way tie and the need for a tiebreaker round.

Players only got 30 seconds in the tiebreaker round, with Young going first and registering 15 points thanks to a perfect moneyball rack. Haliburton went second and couldn’t quite match Young’s mark, but still managed to record 12 points.

Towns got to go third and managed to eclipse Young, as his perfect moneyball rack helped him go for 16 points and put Haliburton on the bubble with Lillard wrapping up the round. Lillard was able to punch his ticket to the finals, as likewise picked up 16 points and eliminated Haliburton altogether.

Damian Lillard, 26 (16 tiebreaker points)
Karl-Anthony Towns, 26 (16 tiebreaker points)
Trae Young, 26 (15 tiebreaker points)
Tyrese Haliburton, 26 (12 tiebreaker points)
Lauri Markkanen, 25
Jalen Brunson, 24
Donovan Mitchell, 21
Malik Beasley, 20

Final Round

Towns went first in the final round, as he told Allie LaForce of TNT that he wanted to try and replicate what worked for him when he won the event back in 2022. Although he only hit two of the five balls on his moneyball rack, Towns hit both of his Starry shots en route to putting up a final round score of 22.

Young stepped up second, and he positioned himself to move into first place with a big moneyball rack, which he put last. He went 4-for-5 from the final corner, giving him a score of 24 and sliding him into first place with Lillard stepping up last.

Knowing exactly what he needed to do to go back-to-back, Lillard hit one of his two shots from Starry range and four of his five moneyballs. Entering the final rack, Lillard had 24 points needed to just make a single shot to defend his title. While he missed his first four, he nailed his moneyball to pick up 26 points.

With the win, Lillard became the first person since Jason Kapono to go back-to-back in the event.