Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown out of the running in All-Star 3-Point Contest
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Stephen Curry hit nine of his last 11 shots, including a 2-point money ball on his final shot, to win another NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest on Sunday night in Atlanta.
The Golden State superstar and legendary 3-point master, who had 31 of a possible 40 points to top the six contestants in the first round, edged Utah’s Mike Conley in the final, 28-27. Jayson Tatum, the youngest competitor in his first 3-Point Contest, had 17 in the final round after posting 25 to advance.
Shooting to open the contest, Jaylen Brown finished last with 17 points, five behind Chicago’s Zach LaVine and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell. Brown hit 14 of 27 shots, but was just 1-of-9 on his 2-point “money balls” and hit 1 of 2 3-point “Dew balls” from 6 feet beyond the 3-point line.
Earlier, Indiana’s Davontas Sabonis won the Skills Challenge, beating Orlando’s Nikola Vučević in the final. Sabonis lost the Skills final to Miami’s Bam Adebayo in 2019, the last All-Star Game contested after 2020′s was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons booted from All-Star Game after COVID-19 contact
Philadelphia 76ers teammates Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were ruled out of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game after being flagged by coronavirus contact tracing, prompting some players to question again why the exhibition was being played during a pandemic.
The 76ers and the NBA learned of the situation with Embiid and Simmons — which stemmed from getting haircuts — on Saturday night and made the decision Sunday morning, about nine hours before the scheduled tipoff, that neither could play.
“It’s just an unfortunate time in the world where our health and safety should be at the front of the helm,” All-Star Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers said Sunday from Atlanta. “I personally didn’t agree with the game but, you know, it is what it is.”
A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Embiid and Simmons have both tested negative for COVID-19, and that their barber has tested positive for it. Both players saw the barber a day or two before before flying to Atlanta, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Sunday because those details were not released publicly.
“It’s kind of messed up,” Washington All-Star Bradley Beal said. “It’s unfortunate.”
Embiid would have been a starter for Team Durant, which will be coached by Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers. Simmons would have been a reserve for Team LeBron. New Orleans’ Zion Williamson was selected to start in Embiid’s place, the NBA said, and both teams will have 11 players on the active rosters instead of the usual 12.
The league and the National Basketball Players Association went ahead with plans for the game for multiple reasons, including because it will pay tribute to historically Black institutions and generate at least $3 million for scholarship funds that aid Black students.
“Throughout this pandemic, we’ve sought to find the right balance between the health and safety of our players, the community that’s involved in producing NBA basketball, and of course our fans, along with the economic interests as well of our community,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday in his annual All-Star address. “Add into that social justice issues . . . Again, we feel we’ve struck the appropriate balance here, looking out for the interests of everyone involved.”
The collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players also stipulates that the game be played, and Silver has said multiple times in recent weeks that millions of fans around the globe want to see the game happen.
“I don’t want to say we didn’t have a choice, but it’s in our CBA and our CBA says there has to be an All-Star Game every year,” Beal said. “There’s a lot of language in there that can kind of get ugly if we didn’t necessarily come down and go through with the All-Star Game. There’s still guys reserved about it, I’m sure. I’m still reserved about it.”