Rockets' Eric Gordon Set To Defend 3-Point Title Saturday Night

HOUSTON, TX — Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon is poised to defend his three-point shooting title at the NBA All-Star Weekend at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. He and 2016 winner Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors — along with six more NBA players — will showcase their shooting skills in the contest on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The JBL Three-Point Contest will start at 7 p.m. and can be seen on TNT. All-Star Saturday Night also includes the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and Verizon Slam Dunk.

Gordon won the 2017 Three-Point Contest in his competition debut, edging Kyrie Irving in a tiebreaker after they posted the same score in the final round. The 2016-17 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award winner, Gordon has made the sixth-most three-pointers in the NBA this season (146) while averaging 19.1 points.

Thompson is one of four 2018 NBA All-Stars in the competition, along with the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paul George and the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry. The eight-player field also features the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, the Miami Heat’s Wayne Ellington and the LA Clippers’ Tobias Harris.

Three-Point Contest Rules
The JBL Three-Point Contest is a two-round, timed competition. Five shooting locations are positioned around the three-point arc. Four racks contain four NBA regulation balls (each worth one point) and one multicolored “money” ball (worth two points). The fifth rack is a special “all money ball” rack, which each participant can place at any of the five locations. Every ball on this rack is worth two points.

The players have one minute to shoot as many of the 25 balls as they can. The three competitors with the highest scores in the first round advance to the championship round. Click here for a complete explanation of the rules.

Visit here for more information on all of the shooting participants. For the complete list of previous winners, click here.

Image: Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon (10) checks the scoreboard after scoring during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)