Lillard secures 'a goal of mine,' wins NBA 3-point contest

SALT LAKE CITY — As the final shots ticked down in Saturday's 3-point contest for Damian Lillard, he thought he had to make them to tie Buddy Hield in order to win it.

Then, when he looked up at the video board after knocking down his final few shots, he saw his score — 26 — was one point ahead of Hield, who had 25.

«As I got down the stretch of that last two racks, I was, like, counting,» Lillard said with a smile. «I knew I had to make all of them, but I thought I was on track to tie him. I actually lost count. But I knew I needed to make all of them. Then when I looked up, I was, like, oh, that's 26.»

Lillard, who is known for his penchant for making clutch, game-winning shots late in games, was pleased this happened in the same fashion.

«It's ironic that it came down to that, and I had to tighten up and come up big at the end. But, like you said, that's typical. That's typical for me.»

Lillard, one of five All-Stars in the competition — along with Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, New York Knicks forward Julius Randle and Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen — placed second behind Haliburton, and ahead of Hield, through the first round.

That put Lillard in position to follow through on a pledge he delivered to his competitors in the locker room before it began: That he would be the one going home victorious.

«I think this was a goal of mine [to win] because I think, as a shooter, anytime you come into a competition like this you want to win it,» Lillard said. «I had done it two times before this, and I didn't take it seriously enough. As a shooter, I wanted to win at least one time before I was done playing, and that's why I took this one a little more serious.»

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