CLEVELAND (AP) — Minnesota All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns showed off his long-range shooting skills and was a surprising winner of the 3-point contest on NBA All-Star Saturday, scoring 29 points in his final round.
Towns beat Luke Kennard of the Clippers and Atlanta’s Trae Young in the final round.
Towns has long considered himself the best-shooting big man in the game and vowed he was going to back up his boasts with a victory.
Knicks forward Obi (OH’-bee) Toppin won the slam dunk contest, earning a 47 on his final dunk after Juan Toscano-Anderson missed on his previous try. Toppin finished second as a rookie before capturing what was an otherwise disappointing finish to All-Star Saturday.
The host Cavaliers were the first winners of the revamped Skills Challenge.
Rookie Evan Mobley gave his team a victory by nailing a halfcourt shot on his first attempt, allowing the Cavs to close out the final portion of the contest in 5.5 seconds.
All-Stars Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland were the other members of the winning team to kick off All-Star Saturday.
The rookie squad of No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham of Detroit, Scottie Barnes of Toronto and Josh Giddey of Oklahoma City was the runner-up in the contest combining shooting, passing and dribbling.
