OAKLAND -– Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry will look to defend his crown in the Three-Point Contest on All-Star Saturday Night in Toronto on February 13, once again competing against a field that includes backcourt mate Klay Thompson, while Draymond Green will join the Splash Brothers on Saturday as a participant in the Skills Challenge, the league announced today.
Curry, who will start for the Western Conference All-Star Team for a third consecutive season, is on pace to become the first Warrior to lead the league in scoring since Rick Barry in 1966-67, averaging an NBA-best 29.8 points to go with 6.4 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.17 steals in 47 games for Golden State, hitting career highs of 51.1 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from three-point range (tied for third-best in the NBA). After averaging 23.8 points during his MVP campaign in 2014-15, the seventh-year guard has increased his scoring average by 6.0 points this season, the highest year-over-year scoring average of any reigning MVP in league history.
Curry, who leads the league in three-point field goals for a fourth consecutive season (232), has participated in the Three-Point Contest four times (2010, 2013-15)—winning the event last year with a record score of 27 points that included 13 consecutive threes in the championship round. The Davidson product has also taken part in the Shooting Stars Competition (2014 & 2015) and the Rising Stars Challenge (2010 & 2011) in addition to winning the Skills Challenge in 2011. In his two previous All-Star Game appearances in 2014 & 2015, Curry has averaged 13.5 points, 8.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds.
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Green, who will make his first career appearance at All-Star Weekend on Saturday before taking part in his first All-Star Game, is averaging career highs of 14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 34.2 minutes over 48 games this season, hitting career highs of 48.9 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three-point range. The fourth-year forward leads the league with 10 triple-doubles, the most by a non-guard since Grant Hill tallied 13 in 1996-97, breaking Tom Gola’s single-season franchise record of nine set in 1959-60.
Thompson, who will make his second career appearance in the All-Star Game after last year joining Curry in the Western Conference starting lineup, holds averages of 21.5 points, a career-high 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 32.7 minutes over 47 games this season. The fifth-year guard is averaging 24.7 points per game since the beginning of December and ranks behind only Curry with 155 three-point field goals, hitting 43.4 percent from long distance (seventh-best in the NBA). Thompson made his first appearance in the Three-Point Contest in 2015 and was a member of the Sophomore Team in the Rising Stars Challenge in 2013.
After capturing their first title in 40 years, the Warriors opened the 2015-16 campaign with a 24-0 record—the most consecutive wins to begin a season in NBA history—and are off to a 45-4 start to the season, matching the best record through 49 games in NBA history. Curry, Green and Thompson are the first trio of Warriors to be named to the All-Star Game in 40 years, when Rick Barry, Phil Smith and Jamaal Wilkes represented Golden State in 1976.
Curry and Thompson are joined in the Three-Point Contest by Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Miami’s Chris Bosh, Houston’s James Harden, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and the Clippers’ J.J. Redick. Green will compete in the Skills Challenge against Houston’s Patrick Beverley, the Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Portland’s C.J. McCollum, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns.
State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will be exclusively televised by TNT in the U.S. on Saturday, February 13, at 4:30 p.m. PST. The 65th NBA All-Star Game in Toronto will tip-off Sunday, Feb. 14 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, the first All-Star Game to be held outside of the U.S.
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