Lauri Markkanen eliminated in opening round of All-Star 3-point contest, Damian Lillard repeats as champion

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen was eliminated from the 2024 NBA All-Star 3-point Contest in the first round.

Markkanen scored 25 points, which automatically meant he wouldn’t move on since three players ahead of him (Trae Young, Tyrese Haliburton and Karl-Anthony Towns) had scored 26 points.

After Markkanen was eliminated, Damian Lillard also scored 26 points, which meant a tiebreaker round was necessary between Young, Haliburton, Towns and Lillard to determine the top three players who would advance to the final round.

Haliburton was eliminated in the tiebreaker round.

Lillard, who won the 3-point Contest wearing a Weber State uniform in 2023 when All-Star weekend was hosted in Utah, repeated as champion with 26 points in the final round.

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Markkanen was eliminated in the opening round of the 3-point Contest in 2023 after scoring just 20 points, so his 2024 score was an improvement on his previous performance.

On Saturday night, Markkanen set his “money ball” rack on the wing, the second stop of the competition but hit just 2-of-5 from that rack. He went on to hit 9-of-10 through the last two racks, but his slow start and misses on the “money ball” rack were his downfall.

In the final round, Young and Towns both scored 24 points. Lillard 4-of-5 from his “money ball” rack to tie 24 points and with one rack left, needed just one made shot to win.

In dramatic fashion, Lillard missed the first four shots from his final rack before hitting the final shot to win it all.