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Nowitzki finally wins 3-point contest
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-20 08:50 HOUSTON - Dirk Nowitzki barely
escaped the first round. A few minutes later, he was finally the 3-point
champion. Nowitzki won the title Saturday night after coming close twice before,
beating Gilbert Arenas and Ray Allen at All-Star weekend.
With Dallas
teammate Jason Terry and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looking on from the
sideline, the 7-foot German finished with 18 points. Arenas had 16 points and
Allen, the 2001 champion, had 15.
Nowitzki finished second in the 3-point contest in 2000 and third the next
year. He got off to a quick start in the finals Saturday night, making eight of
his first 10 shots and going 15-of-25 in the final round.
"That's kind of my game," Nowitzki said. "I'm going to shoot it first and
everything else is second."
Terry failed to advance with his first-round total of 13. Defending champion
Quentin Richardson of New York and Detroit's Chauncey Billups each finished with
12.
Nowitzki almost missed the cut himself. His final make of the first round
barely counted, tying him with Arenas for second with 14 points. Replays showed
the ball was still in his hands when time expired, but there is no review in the
contest.
"I looked at the clock, I tried to hoist them up there as quick as I can,"
Nowitzki said. "I don't know if it should have counted."
He got some help in the finals from Terry, who did his best to influence the
outcome from his courtside seat.
"He was rooting for me all the way," Nowitzki said. "When the guys were
shooting in the final round and he was out, he was heckling them from behind."
Allen made all five balls on his fourth rack in the first round and finished
with 19 points but struggled in the middle of the finals, missing all five shots
on his fourth rack.
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