Karl-Anthony Towns won the MTN Dew 3-Point Contest on All-Star Saturday, becoming the second Minnesota Timberwolves player and third big man ever to win the competition.
Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns wins 3-Point Contest
We asked the question earlier in the day on Saturday: why was Karl-Anthony Towns given the longest odds to win the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest on Saturday night?
Towns had better shooting numbers than roughly half the field, both this season and for his career. He doesn’t jump when he shoots and has a quick release. There was no reason to think he was the least likely winner.
Sure enough, Towns emerged victorious, beating out a field full of talented guards. He became the second Timberwolves player to win the competition, following Kevin Love’s 2012 victory. He is also just the third big man to win it, along with Love and Dirk Nowitzki.
Towns shot sixth out of the eight contestants in the first round, putting up 22 points, which landed him second next to Luke Kennard of the LA Clippers, who poured in 28 in the first round. Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks went last in the first round and got hot late to make it into the finals.
Towns went first in the final round and was hot early, making all five shots on his second rack, four out of five on his money-ball rack positioned at the top of the arc, and one of the two MTN DEW balls that were worth three points and situated roughly five feet behind the arc near the slot.
He had a chance to eclipse 30 points but missed his last three shots on the final rack, watching the two-point money ball rattle out.
Still, the 29 points was a final-round record in the history of the contest, and clearly put significant pressure on both Kennard and Young.
The Hawks star started out hot but ultimately needed to make every shot on the final rack. When he missed one and realized that he couldn’t get it done, he shot the final ball high up in the air in frustration. Young finished with 26 points.
Kennard couldn’t quite follow up his 28-point first-round performance, never really finding a rhythm and finishing with 24.
Now, Towns will try to fulfill his other stated goal from the weekend: winning the Most Valuable Player award during the All-Star Game on Sunday night.