It came down to the very last shot.
Utah Jazz veteran guard Mike Conley stood on the sideline, with his arm around teammate Donovan Mitchell, watching as Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry’s last attempt soared through the air.
Conley had scored a very respectable 27 points in the championship round of the NBA All-Star 3-point contest and the last player left to beat his score was Curry, largely considered to be the best shooter the NBA has ever seen.
Curry had 26 points with just one moneyball — worth two points — remaining. Curry’s clutch shot sailed through the net winning him a second 3-point contest trophy and dashing the hopes that Conley had of upsetting the competition.
Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell was also one of the players competing in the 3-point contest on Sunday night ahead of the All-Star Game in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. The other competitors were the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine.
Mitchell scored 22 points in the first round of the contest, which wasn’t enough to get him into the championship round. But Conley’s 26 points in the first round was enough to pit him against Curry and Tatum.
Though Curry scored an outstanding 31 points in the first round, he missed his first four shots of the final round, making every shot more important.
Conley was all smiles and laughs after the competition, congratulating Curry and clearly just happy to be having a good time and to be a part of the All-Star festivities.
On Friday night Conley was invited to make his All-Star debut with Team Durant and take part in the 3-point contest as a replacement for injured Phoenix guard Devin Booker. Conley joined teammates Mitchell and Rudy Gobert as player representatives for the Utah Jazz at the 2021 NBA All-Star Game and Jazz head coach Quin Snyder made his All-Star debut, coaching Team LeBron.