Warriors' Steph Curry wins 3-point shootout on dramatic final shot - USA TODAY

Jeff Zillgitt   | USA TODAY

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Golden State’s Steph Curry changed the NBA with his 3-point shooting.

Sometime next season, he will pass Ray Allen for most 3s in NBA history with a career shooting percentage above .400. He will go down as the best 3-point shooter in history.

On Sunday, Curry won the NBA All-Star 3-point contest for the second time, joining Larry Bird, Craig Hodges, Mark Price, Jeff Hornacek, Peja Stojakovic and Jason Kapono as multiple-time winners.

Curry scored 28 points in the final round to edge Utah’s Mike Conley, who registered 27 points.

Curry started slow in the final round, missing four of his five shots on the first rack of basketballs from the corner. He started to heat up on his second rack, making four of five and then finished by making nine of his final 11 shots at Atlanta's State Farm Arena.

He needed to make his final shot to win, and he swished it.

"Whatever crowd is in here, I could hear the temperature rise, and I just knew I had to knock it down," Curry said. "It was a fun battle. Mike shot it well."

What also helped Curry: he made both Mtn. Dew shots from deeper distance that are worth three points each.

Curry, whose dad Dell participated in the 1992 and 1994 3-point events and brother Seth participated in 2019, tallied 31 points in the first round, making 21 of 27 shots, including nine of his final 10 and the final five. He made eight consecutive shots in one stretch.

This season, Curry leads the NBA with 169 3s (a league-best 4.8 per game) shoots 41.1% from deep and averages 29.7 points.

Boston's Jayson Tatum reached the final round and finished third. Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Chicago’s Zach LaVine and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell did not make it out of the first round.

Every moneyball – the final shot in each rack – made generated a $3,500 donation, and each Mtn. Dew Zone shot made a $5,000 donation to Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity, which addresses gap funding for COVID-19 relief efforts in diverse communities in the U.S. 

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.

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2021-03-08 01:13:04Z