After a Skills Challenge that leaned hard into doing something new and out of the box, the NBA used the second spot in its All-Star Saturday festivities for a longtime favorite, the 3-Point Contest. Thanks to a final round record 29 points, Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns managed to fend off Luke Kennard and Trae Young en route to a win.
Round 1
Luke Kennard: 28
Karl-Anthony Towns: 22
Trae Young: 22
Patty Mills: 21
CJ McCollum: 19
Desmond Bane: 18
Fred VanVleet: 16
Zach LaVine: 14
The story of the first round was Kennard, who got scorching hot from the top of the key and the final corner, where he parked his all-moneyball rack. As a result, the Los Angeles Clippers’ sharpshooter entered the final round with the top score of the bunch.
Luke Kennard is the early leader in Round 1 of #MtnDew3PT with a score of 28!
4 shooters left, top 3 advance.#NBAAllStar #StateFarmSaturday pic.twitter.com/YgPWhfw3Mk
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2022
Joining him in the final round were Towns and Young, both of whom needed their final moneyball to earn a spot. The pair each took a moment to compose themselves before they let it fly — Young, in particular, took the last shot of the round with a spot in the final on the line. He took a breath, let it fly, and knocked Mills out of contention.
KAT hit the shimmy
#MtnDew3PT pic.twitter.com/1fY8WroIO4
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 20, 2022
ICE TRAE knocks down his final shot to advance to the #MtnDew3PT finals! #NBAAllStar
Trae, KAT and Kennard compete for the
on TNT pic.twitter.com/jfrooH7mNZ
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2022
Final Round
Karl-Anthony Towns: 29
Trae Young: 26
Luke Kennard: 26
Towns started things off with a bang in the final round, hitting four of his shots on his all-moneyball rack and setting the bar awfully high for his other two opponents to have to clear.
Karl-Anthony Towns opens the final round of #MtnDew3PT with 29!
2 shooters left on TNT. #NBAAllStar #StateFarmSaturday pic.twitter.com/lyfAOUv6Es
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2022
KAT in the Final Round (29):
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 20, 2022
A cold first rack for Young ultimately was his downfall. While the Hawks’ star caught fire towards the end of his run, Towns’ score was ultimately just a little too much. The same was true for Kennard, who ended with the same score as Young.
Towns’ final round was the best in the competition’s history, eclipsing his pal Devin Booker’s 28-point final round performance in 2018. He is the second player in Timberwolves history to win the competition, joining fellow big man Kevin Love in 2012.
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