When the Three-Point Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend begins on Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have one participant in Darius Garland. It’s Darius Garland’s first time participating in the event, and the Cavs are looking for their first Three-Point Contest champion since Kyrie Irving in 2013.
Garland has emerged as one of the better three-point threats in the league the past couple of seasons, and he’s going up against a field of competitors that includes Cade Cunningham, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Buddy Hield, Cam Johnson, Jalen Brunson and back-to-back defending champion Damian Lillard.
In fact, with All-Star Weekend being held in San Francisco, Garland is expecting his biggest competitor to be Lillard as he’ll be in front of his hometown crowd.
“I know Dame is gonna come in and try to represent his hometown. I know he’s gonna go for a three-peat,” Garland said during an episode of Fan Duel’s Run It Back. “I know Dame’s gonna come hard for it.”
This season, Garland is shooting a career-high 43.1 percent from the three-point line on a career-high 7.0 attempts. For what it’s worth, he’s also shooting a career-high 49.8 percent from the field.
Throughout his six-year NBA career so far, Garland averages 39.2 percent shooting from three-point range. While the Three-Point Contest format is slightly different than in-game shooting, Garland remarked that he has already taken practice time to try and get used shooting off the racks.
“Yeah I practiced a couple of times already, just trying to get a feel for it,” Garland said. “It was totally different for me, but I got adjusted to it a little bit.”
Darius Garland’s All-Star season for Cavs
Not only will Garland be participating in the Three-Point Contest, but he will play in the main event on Sunday in the All-Star Game. It’s Garland’s second All-Star appearance, his first coming during the 2021-22 season.
Garland will be joined on Sunday by his Cavs teammates Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Mitchell is making his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance while Mobley is a first-time All-Star selection.
Garland became an immediate starter for the Cavs from the time he was drafted in 2019, and has been the team’s point guard and floor leader.
This season, he’s appeared in 52 games, at a little over 30 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 21.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 49.8 percent shooting from the field, 43.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 87.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Back in 2022 during Garland’s first All-Star appearance, he finished with 13 points, one rebound, three assists and two steals in 24 minutes. He shot 5-of-12 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range.
