One of the most festive occasions of the NBA season is upon us as the 2023 All-Star weekend is about to go down in Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena where the Jazz play their home games.

Much like with the NHL All-Star weekend, the NBA plans a series of high-profile events that span over multiple days, starting with the practice sessions of both squads.

But apart from the pomp, circumstance, and showcases such as the celebrity game, there are a few things that die-hard NBA fans anticipate the most. Even before the game itself is played on Feb. 19, which will feature Team Lebron vs Team Giannis, many of the invited players will partake in skills competitions to test their valour and might. With a dash of mirth, of course.

SIA will preview those events, highlight the participants and even make some predictions. We begin with the 3-Point Contest.

Don’t forget to check out our NBA All-Star Weekend odds and props page for more action.

The Competitors

Be there or be squared on Saturday, Feb. 18 when eight of the NBA’s most lethal shooters from long-range compete for 3-point shooting supremacy. The three-point shot is of the utmost importance in today’s NBA, courtesy of Stephen Curry essentially paving the way for how the game is played. Save for exceptions, the teams that can’t make threes consistently generally don’t last long in the playoffs.

The 2023 edition of the challenge pits the following contestants:

–Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics

–Kevin Huerter of the Sacramento Kings

-Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat

-Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers

–Buddy Hield also of the Indiana Pacers

–Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers

-Anferne Simons also of the Portland Trail Blazers

–Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz

How Do they Stack Up?

The pressure will be on, so to speak, with five sets of five balls placed at various locations along the three-point arc. The regular official game ball is worth one point, and a special “money ball” is worth two points. The fifth and final set of balls will exclusively consist of “money balls.” Furthermore, each set contains a white ball worth three points. There are even two additional balls to be shot from even deeper range between some of the racks. Thus, 27 balls to be fired in total in no more than 70 seconds.

All eight of these competitors have a solid chance of winning the event. Of them, Lillard makes the most successful three-point attempts per contest at 4.2., although that’s largely because he takes the most shots per game as well at 11.2. As far as efficiency is concerned, his 37.2 per cent is sixth best in the group. On the flip side, he’s accustomed to shooting from distance late in games when the pressure mounts.

Buddy Hield has the best efficiency at 42.3 per cent, but takes two shots less than Lillard each night and.

The wild cards are Lauri Markkanen (41.3 per cent efficiency off of 3.0/7.4 shooting) and Kevin Huerter (39.2 per cent off of 2.6/6.8 shooting). Markkanen is, of course, the local favourite and could very well feed off the crowd’s energy. Huerter is an interesting inclusion given his efforts in helping Sacramento have such a promising season, but he also takes by far the fewest attempts every game.

Prediction: Damian Lillard wins. He’s very accustomed to being “the guy” in big situations.