KAT wins All-Star three-point contest

LOS ANGELES

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns scored a record 29 points in the final round to capture the NBA All-Star Weekend’s Three-Point Contest, holding off the sharpshooting duo of Trae Young and Luke Kennard.

Towns’ record point total for a final round placed him just ahead of the Atlanta Hawks’ Young and Los Angeles Clippers’ Kennard, who both had 26 points on Feb. 19 night in Cleveland, Ohio.

First out of the gate, Towns, a nearly 7-foot center who loomed over his fellow competitors, made four of his first five attempts en route to the victory.

“I’m super happy to win,” Towns said. “It’s great, but I just have such high standards for myself. ... I’m the biggest critic of myself. There’s no writer, no blogger, no one who could critique and be harsher on their game than me on my game.

“I thought 30 was what I was going to need to win in the final round. I was able to scrape by with 29.”

Before being reduced to the three finalists, the three-point lineup consisted of CJ McCollum, Zach LaVine, Desmond Bane, Fred VanVleet and Patty Mills.

Feb. 19’s events also included the slam dunk competition and skills challenge.

In the slam dunk contest, New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin soared to victory, beating Golden State Warriors big man Juan Toscano-Anderson.

Toppin iced the victory by going between the legs and tapping the glass before the dunk, completing an altered version of his earlier attempt for scores of all 9s and 10s.

Evan Mobley hit a clutch halfcourt shot as part of the Skills Challenge to lift Team Cavs to the victory.