Neither Buck advanced in their respective events: the Three-Point Contest and Dunk Contest
The Milwaukee Bucks had two players participating in the NBA All-Star Saturday night festivities. First, it was Damian Lillard attempting a three-peat in the three-point contest. And then we had the high-flying Andre Jackson Jr. competing in the dunk contest.
As our Riley Feldmann laid out in the Milwaukee Bucks 2025 All-Star weekend guide, the rules to the three-point contest seem to get more confusing each year, but here’s a quick refresher on how the contest currently works:
“Each player gets 70 seconds to run through five racks of five balls each (one of which is a special Starry (mmmm!) ball) where a make with a regular ball is worth one point and a Starry ball worth two. There are also two special Starry Range balls further out worth three points if you make it. From there, just make more than the other guys to be one of three guys to advance to the final and do it over again.”
Round one got off the mark with Brooklyn swingman Cam Johnson who, while having a terrific season with the Nets, did not perform well with a score of 14. Cleveland’s Darius Garland was next up; the two-time All-Star is not known for his standstill shooting ability but lit the nets on fire in the opening round with a top score of 24, including six money-balls. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, another first-time All-Star, bowed out with a score of 16, looking “very casual out here” according to Reggie Miller. Cunningham’s unimpressive performance was followed by an even less impressive showing by Clippers guard Norman Powell, who topped out at a final score of 14.
Heat guard and Milwaukee native Tyler Herro struggled out of the gate, using a lot of legs in his shots, but found a rhythm late to get a score of 19 (he even made the first Starry ball of the night! Woohoo!). Knicks star Jalen Brunson started very well, making four of his first five shots, and maintained just enough to finish with a score of 18. And then Warriors bomber Buddy Hield put everyone to shame, making both Starry balls (!) and 20 out of a possible 27 shots on his way to a competition-tying 31.
And then was the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Damian Lillard going for the competition three-peat. Dame got off to a great start with four of his first five makes, but unfortunately, that rhythm faded for the rest of the spots (other than the left wing, where he made 4/5). Lillard was knocked out with a final score of just 16. Buddy Hield, Darius Garland, and Tyler Herro were the finalists.
Tyler Herro kicked off the final round with a solid score of 24. Herro’s best rack was the top of the key, where he went 4/5, but he also made 3/5 on his money-ball rack, which really helped juice up his total. Darius Garland did not follow up his first-round masterclass in a similar fashion, making just 10 of a possible 27 shots and ending with a score of 17.
So it then came down to Buddy Hield needing to beat Herro’s score of 24 to win. Hield started off badly, going 0/5 on his first rack. He then made at least 3/5 from his next three racks (as well as one of the Starry shots). It was going to be tough but not impossible for Hield to win; he had a score of 15 going into his money-ball rack and would’ve had to make all five shots to win. Hield made four (!) and lost by just one. Wisconsin’s own Tyler Herro was crowned this season’s three-point champion. Whew!
In the locker room afterward, Dame said he was retiring from the Three-Point Contest. He’s one of six players with two victories in the shootout, joining Peja Stojakovic, Jeff Hornacek, Mark Price, Jason Kapono, and Steph Curry. Larry Bird and former Buck Craig Hodges both won three.
Next, we were onto the Dunk Contest, where Andre Jackson Jr. followed Spurs rookie Stephon and Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis. After appearing to slip a little bit on his first attempt, which appeared to be a running 360 windmill from the elbow, he tried it again unsuccessfully before abandoning the spin. That didn’t work either, so he just went for a garden-variety windmill off a bounce. No dice. Finally, he went for a pretty banal two-handed flush, but at least he was able to throw one down, unlike Buzelis. That netted him a score of 43.8 from the judges.
Two-time reigning champion and Magic two-way guard Mac McClung channeled Blake Griffin by dunking a ball handed to him from the moonroof of an automobile and over said automobile (a perfect 50). Jackson then went for his second dunk. From the baseline, he thrice tried to execute a spinning midair alley-oop that was banked to him off the side of the backboard to no avail, so he instead opted for a one-handed windmill after streaking in from above the break. That earned him a 45.0, enough to surpass Buzelis, but Castle and McClung both made good on their first attempts. Their scores of 49 and 50, respectively, eliminated AJax.
McClung went on to defeat Castle in the final round, becoming the first player ever to win three Dunk Contests in a threepeat. But Jackson need not worry! He follows these Bucks to be eliminated in the initial round of the Dunk Contest (no Buck has ever even advanced): Paul Pressey, Ray Allen, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Pat Connaughton. Those guys had pretty great careers in Milwaukee!