Get your bows ready: Mavs wing Wesley Matthews will compete in the 2017 All-Star Three-Point Contest on Feb. 18 in New Orleans, the NBA announced today.
Matthews’ 129 made 3-pointers ranks 10th in the NBA this season, and he’s shooting 38.1 percent from beyond the arc. Since Christmas, Matthews has connected on 39.6 percent of his attempts from deep.
He’ll compete against 2016 shootout champ Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Nick Young, C.J. McCollum, and Eric Gordon.
Last season, his first as a Maverick, Matthews drained 189 treys, the third-most by any player in franchise history. In 2016-17 he’s on pace to hit 215, which would be one of the most prolific shooting seasons in NBA history — only 18 players have hit more than 215 3s in a single season, according to Basketball-Reference.
Matthews is the first player to represent Dallas in the competition since Dirk Nowitzki did so in 2008. He and Jason Terry both competed in 2007, and Nowitzki won the event in 2006. Steve Nash, Hubert Davis, George McCloud, Derek Harper, Detlef Schrempf, and Dale Ellis have also competed for the Mavericks in years past.
As fiercely competitive a player as Matthews is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take the contest very seriously. He participated for the first time in New York City in 2015, and he scored 22 points in the first round. Stephen Curry would go on to win the trophy.
The Three-Point Contest is part of the Saturday festivities the night before the game itself. The evening begins at 7 p.m., and Matthews’ contest is second on the schedule after the Taco Bell Skills Challenge.
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