Karl-Anthony Towns Wins Three-Point Contest With Record Final Round

CLEVELAND (AP) — The latest from All-Star Saturday:

The big man was the big winner in the three-point contest.

Minnesota All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns showed off his long-range shooting skills and was a surprising winner of the event, scoring a record 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.

“I needed this trophy to prove it,” Towns said.

Brooklyn’s Patty Mills, Toronto’s Fred VanVleet, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Memphis’ Desmond Bane, and New Orleans’ CJ McCollum failed to advance.

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The host Cleveland 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.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers Thanasis and Alex finished third.

The Antetokounmpo brothers clearly enjoyed competing together as a team. There were engaged and all smiles from the outset of the challenge. They were asking the referees for a video review of the end of the passing portion of the event.

Still to come is the three-point shooting and dunk competitions.