Miami Heat’s James Jones beats Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to win the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest
Against all odds, Miami Heat’s James Jones won the Foot Locker Three Point Contest at the National Basketball Association All-Star weekend in the Staples Centre on Saturday. Jones scored 20 brilliant points in the final round to snatch the victory against
defending champion Paul Peirce and upcoming sensation Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics.
Jones is the fourth player from the Heat to be crowned in this event, after Glen Rice, Jason Kapono and Daequan Cook.
After winning the contest Jones said, “It was an easy transition for me and I think playing and shooting against some of the best competition in the league kind of brought the best out of me, I always wanted to prove to myself that I could be labelled one
of the best shooters in this game. I think I proved it here today.”
Jones defeated the very best of Celtic’s Pierce along with his team-mate Ray Allen, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant, Cleveland Cavaliers Daniel Gibson, and Dorell Wright of the Golden State Warriors in this year’s Foot Locker Three Point Contest.
The contest was played in two rounds, as the players shoot from four different angles at the three point line. Each player is given one minute for shooting. In the first round, Allen scored 20 points, as Jones scored 16, Pierce managed 12 points, Wright
scored 11 points, Gibson had 7 points and Durant scored 6.
The first round’s top three performers, Jones, Pierce and Allen advanced into the second and final round. Jones scored a breathtaking 20 points and took the victory, as Pierce scored 18 and Allen managed only 15 points in the final round.
Jones’ ability in this contest showed just how accurate he is at the three point range. This victory will now surely put him on the starting roster for Miami. He spoke on his future commitments with his current Heat team and his team-mates. "We know the
Big Three (Dwyane Wade and LeBron James) is the focus of our team, but when teams pack it in against those others, we have to be ready. I think teams have started to pay attention to us. Those guys made the game easier for us, and players like myself have
to do our part to make it easier for them,” Jones said.
Jones solidified his place as the top three point shooter in the NBA with his victory. It will be interesting to see how the Miami Heat utilise his skills in their upcoming games.
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