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Nets’ Cam Johnson fails to advance to final round of Starry 3-Point Contest

NEW YORK — Cam Johnson failed to advance to the final round of the Starry 3-Point Contest Saturday night at Chase Center. He was the Brooklyn Nets’ lone representative at NBA All-Star weekend 2025 in San Francisco.

“I’m really excited for it,” Johnson told reporters ahead of the event. “Like I said, I’m just shooting and praying. I’ll prepare myself the best I can and go out there and shoot and live with the result.”

Johnson’s competition on Saturday was Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield, Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard and Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell.

Before the eight shooters were introduced, LiAngelo “Gelo” Ball — brother of Chicago’s Lonzo Ball and Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball — performed his hit single “Tweaker." It was his first televised performance. He recently signed an $8 million guaranteed record deal with Def Jam Productions.

It was a two-round competition. Four racks had four official balls and one “money ball," and one rack containing all “money balls” could be placed at any of the five rack locations. Two rack locations called “Starry Range” contained one ball each. An official ball counted for one point, a “money ball” counted for two points, and a “Starry Range” ball counted for three points.

Each player had one minute and 10 seconds to shoot as many of the 27 balls as possible. The three players with the highest scores advanced to the championship round. And Johnson, who shot 41.3% from 3-point range through 39 games this season, was the first shooter up.

It was a rough start. Johnson made just two shots on the first rack, one shot on the second rack, missed his first “Starry” ball, made just two shots on the third rack and missed his second “Starry” ball. However, his fourth rack was one that had only “money balls," and he made three. He made three shots on his final rack, finishing with a first-round score of 14 points.

It wasn’t good enough. Johnson, Brunson, Cunningham, Powell and Lillard were eliminated, while Heild, Herro and Garland advanced to the final round.

Lillard was a two-time defending champion entering the night. And with 31 first-round points, Hield tied Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton for the most points ever scored in a 3-point contest round.

In the end, Herro became the fifth Heat player to win the 3-point contest with a final round score of 24.

Johnson, 28, became the sixth Nets player to participate in the competition, joining Patty Mills, Joe Johnson, Anthony Morrow, Drazen Petrovic and Joe Harris.

Harris won it in 2019, in upset fashion, beating Curry.

Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers won the Kia Skills earlier in the evening.

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