A look at the 2015 Footlocker Three-Point Contest
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| A handful of decent shooters will appear in this year's Three-Point Contest. |
The newly formatted two-round event will feature the standard five shooting locations evenly around the arc. Four of the racks will contain four orange (one-point) balls, and a single multi-colored money ball worth two points. The fifth rack will be a special rack containing five money balls. Each participant may choose the placement of his own racks, and will have one minute to shoot. The marksmen with the highest three scores will advance to the championship round.
The talent of this year's eight-player field simply can't be understated. Wesley Matthews (POR) leads the way with the most three-point field goals made thus far at 158. Steph Curry (GSW) and Kyle Korver (ATL) follow close behind with 156. Curry's backcourt partner, Klay Thompson, comes next with 151, and Houston's James Harden rounds out the top five in makes with 137. Still, a brief look at each player's résumé boasts more distinguished long-distance achievement.
Incredibly, Kyle Korver is averaging 53.1 percent from beyond the arc--a figure better than his overall field goal percentage of 51.8 percent. Korver leads the pack in three-point percentage as well as free throw percentage at a near-automatic 92 percent.
Only a few weeks ago, Klay Thompson dropped a record-setting 37 points in a single quarter on his way to 52 points for the game, which also included a league-record nine three-pointers in a single quarter.
On January 8th, Steph Curry drilled his 1,000th three-point field goal in his 369th game, becoming the fastest player to reach that milestone. Curry is also one of two players in NBA history to have multiple games of ten or more made triples.
James Harden is the NBA's scoring leader with 27.5 points per game. Harden does a lot of his damage from downtown and remains a candidate for league MVP.
Sharpshooters J.J. Redick (LAC), Kyrie Irving (CLE), and Marco Belinelli (SAS) complete the eight-player field. J.J. Redick is ninth overall in three point makes this year with 114 and on track to smash his previous season high of 165. The Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving drained 11 triples in an amazing 55-point effort on January 28 against Portland. Irving is no stranger to the event, having won it in 2013. Despite missing significant time due to injury, Marco Belinelli adds to the already ridiculous competition and aims to defend his 2014 crown.
I understand if you aren't interested in another defenseless All-Star game. I get it if you're burnt out on the dunk contest (though Zach LaVine is something to watch). But if you aren't excited for this year's Three-Point Contest, I don't know what else to tell you.
NBA All-Star weekend runs from February 13th through February 15th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Be sure to catch the Footlocker Three-Point Contest at 8:30 PM ET on Saturday, February 14th on TNT.
Photo courtesy: Bleacher Report
Follow Austin Gill @augill93
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