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SAN FRANCISCO — Damian Lillard was back in his hometown, ready to solidify his place amo...
SAN FRANCISCO — Damian Lillard was back in his hometown, ready to solidify his place among the 3-point shooting greats in the Bay Area.
Except, it wasn't his night — it was Tyler Herro's.
Lillard, the two-time defending 3-Point Contest champion — didn't get out of the first round of the event, having an off night and putting up a score of 17. The first round belonged to the Warriors' Buddy Hield, who energized his home crowd with the best round of the event, 31 points.
BUDDY HIELD IS STROKING THE 3
31 points... the most in Round 1!#Starry3PT on TNT pic.twitter.com/JgFewsCzTY
— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025
Herro came in third in that first round and barely advanced to the championship round against Hield and Darius Garland (those first-round scores do not carry over). However, in the second round, he felt more comfortable — and warmer.
"Definitely going first helped," Herro said of leading off the championship round. "Also, it felt cold in the arena the first time I went. For the second time, I felt more loose going right away. Then like I said, having a bunch of great shooters, I think putting a number down right away, putting a little pressure on them, I think that played a factor."
That number was 24.
24 PTS. TYLER HERRO SETS THE MARK TO BEAT
Buddy Hield is next in #Starry3PT on TNT.... pic.twitter.com/YZY8ocN1tB
— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025
Garland put up a 19 in the second round. Hield finished with a 22 but was done in by a slow start, so slow that by the end he had to sink all five of the two-point Moneyball shots from the corner to tie things up. He hit four.
"Tough one. Bad start. It's all good, though," Hield said. "Bad start, though."
Herro joins Glenn Rice (1995), Jason Kapono (2007), Daequan Cook (2009) and James Jones (2011) as Miami Heat players who have won the 3-point contest.
