By R.L. Bynum
The Brooklyn Nets’ Cameron Johnson, on pace for career-highs in several categories, will be one of eight players in the 3-Point Contest on NBA All-Star weekend.
The former Carolina star scored 17 points and three 3-pointers in Brooklyn’s 119–112 Wednesday home loss to Washington in his return after missing six games with a right ankle sprain.
Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard, 72nd in the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 39.9%, will try to win the event for a third consecutive year after collecting 26 out of a possible 40 points each of the last two seasons.
The contest, which TNT and truTV will televise, will be the second event of a series of competitions that start at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The Skills Challenge is the first event.
Johnson, who shot 41.1% from 3-point range during his two seasons at UNC, is 23rd in the league in 3-point-shooting percentage at 41.7%, his best perimeter shooting since making a career-best 45.5% during the 2022–23 season with the Phoenix Suns.
Among 36 players averaging at least seven 3-point attempts, Johnson is fourth in the league and first in the Eastern Conference in 3-point percentage. He is tied for third in the NBA in catch-and-shoot 3s per game (2.4), and his 3-point field goal percentage on those attempts (42.6%) ranks third in the league among those averaging at least five such attempts per game (minimum 30 games played).
Johnson scored 96 3-pointers in his first 30 games, trailing only Joe Harris (98) for the most in a player’s first 30 games in franchise history. Johnson has at least one 3-pointer in 52 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 24, 2024, which is the third-longest active span in the league and the fourth-longest by a Net all-time.
Johnson scored at least one 3 in each of his first 55 games as a Net (Feb. 11, 2023, through Jan. 11, 2024), making him the only player in team history with multiple streaks of 50 or more contests with a 3-pointer.
Johnson has made at least three 3-pointers in 23 of 36 games this season, scoring four in six games, six in three games, seven in one and making a season-high nine and scoring a season-high 37 points on Nov. 22 in a loss at Philadelphia, which tied his career-high for 3-pointers.
Johnson is on pace for career-highs per game averages in points (19.3), assists (2.9) and minutes per game (32.1). His field-goal percentage (48.8%), effective field-goal percentage (61.0%) and free-throw percentage (90.2%; fourth in the NBA) are all career bests while averaging career-high shot volumes from the floor (13.1), from 3-point range and from the free-throw line (3.7).
Others competing are New York’s Jalen Brunson (48th in the league at 49.7%), Detroit’s Cade Cunningham (113th at 35.4%), Cleveland’s Darius Garland (11th at 42.9%), Golden State’s Buddy Hield (84th at 37.1%) and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Norman Powell (10th at 43.1%).
Brooklyn is 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 17–34 record.
Photo via @BrooklynNets
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