Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns won the NBA Three-Point Contest on Saturday at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. With Towns' 29 points in the last round, he set the record for the highest score in the final round and became the third big man to win the competition.
Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young and Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Luke Kennard were the remaining finalists, having each scored 26 points in the championship round.
“I told you Shaq!” Towns yelled from the court while holding the trophy. “Vegas got the odds wrong. I been told you that.”
Ahead of the competition, Towns was seen as the longshot pick with +1200 odds.
Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki and the Cleveland Cavaliers' Kevin Love are the only two other power forwards or centers to win the Three-Point Contest.
Towns is currently averaging 24.4 points and 9.7 rebounds for Minnesota. He's shooting 41% from three-point range, and according to CBS Sports, 48.1% on wide-open three-pointers. The Timberwolves enter the All-Star break fighting to maintain a spot in the playoffs at 31-28 and in seventh place in the Western Conference standings.
Check out highlights from the Three-Point Contest below.
[Via]
