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| Saturday, February 12 | |||||
The Utah Jazz guard, who's retiring after this season, fended off the challenge from the NBA's younger generation Saturday night to win the 3-point shootout at All-Star weekend for the second time in a row. "For a lot of guys, it was the first time out," Hornacek said. "The first time out is a tough time to do it. So we had a little experience out there." Hornacek, whose last-second shot won the 2-ball competition at the Oakland Coliseum Arena earlier, edged second-year pro Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas in the final round of the shootout. Players put up as many shots as they can from five spots behind the 3-point line. Each basket counts for a point, with every fifth ball counting double. Nowitzki had trouble finding the range the second time out because of a case of the jitters. "Sure, I looked nervous," he said. "That's the first time I'm here and I'm enjoying this thing but I haven't practiced much. You could see in the first two racks I hardly made a shot." Hornacek, seventh in the NBA with a 42-percent conversion rate from 3-point range, had a final-round score of 13 to 11 for Nowitzki, who advanced with a first-round high of 18 points. "It felt pretty good the first time," Nowitzki said. "The second time, I just couldn't get hot and I lost." Shooting 3s, even without someone's hand in your face or the pressure of a game, aren't easy. "It's hard to do," Hornacek said. "But, I don't know, those guys can still shoot the ball pretty well. I think also the emphasis on shooting 3-pointers has dropped the percentage down, too. There are a lot of guys that shoot a whole bunch of them, four or five in a game. When I was first in the league, there were only a handful of guys that would take 3s." Milwaukee's Ray Allen finished third with a final-round score of 10 after going for 16 points in the initial round. Hornacek had a first-round score of 17. Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, the league's leading scorer last season and averaging a league-best 30.7 points this season, was eliminated in the first round with a score of 10 points. Known for his flamboyant, slashing drives to the basket, Iverson showed he still needs work on his perimeter shooting, putting up a couple of air balls in the rapid-fire drill. Others eliminated from the eight-player field in the first round
were Cleveland's Bob Sura (9), Dallas' Hubert Davis (14), San
Antonio's Terry Porter (15), and Vancouver's Mike Bibby (15).
| ALSO SEE Hornacek wins 2ball for Utah at buzzer Brand, Francis lead way in Rookie Challenge NBA All-Star Game 2000 Around the Rim in Oakland, Saturday Sizing up the Shootout competition |