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Peja-peat Stojakovic successfully defends in 3-point ShootoutPosted: Saturday February 08, 2003 10:28 PMUpdated: Sunday February 09, 2003 2:39 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Peja Stojakovic won another 3-point championship with a do-over Saturday night. The Sacramento Kings forward was given a second chance after a buzzer inadvertently went off midway through his round. He took advantage by scoring 22 of a possible 30 points to beat Wesley Person of the Memphis Grizzlies. The final was a rematch between last year's top two, with the same result. Stojakovic became the fifth repeat champion in the 18-year history of the event that precedes the NBA All-Star Game. Three players competed in the final, but a playoff was necessary after Stojakovic and Person tied with 20 points apiece. Brent Barry of Seattle was eliminated with 17. Stojakovic missed 10 straight shots after the buzzer went off, causing him to briefly hesitate on his third rack of balls. He resumed shooting when he noticed officials frantically waving for him to keep going.
The crowd at Philips Arena began booing louder and louder as Stojakovic kept missing. He hit his last two shots to finish with 12 points, but the public-address announcer quelled the furor by quickly announcing that Stojakovic would get another chance. "When the buzzer went off, it threw me off," Stojakovic said. "When you get to the second or third rack, you're just finding your rhythm. They did the right thing." Person, the NBA's most-accurate 3-point shooter, scored 16 points, then Stojakovic took the court again for his do-over. This time, the Kings star was dead-on. He made 15 of his first 18 shots -- some balls were worth two points -- to clinch the title before finishing his next-to-last set of balls. "I felt more comfortable this year," Stojakovic said. "I knew what to expect." Last year, Stojakovic and Person also tied in the championship round. The Yugoslav won that playoff -- which was 30 seconds instead of 60 -- by a score of 9-5. Person wouldn't comment on the decision to give Stojakovic another chance. "Right now, it's kind of quick for me to talk about it," Person said. "I thought I was going to shoot second in that contest. When I shot before him, I gave him something to shoot at. You always want to have something to shoot at." Six players took part in the competition, which involves shooting from 25 balls from five spots behind the 23-foot, 9-inch line. One ball in each rack is worth two points, the others one. Orlando's Pat Garrity, New Orleans' David Wesley and Boston's Antoine Walker were eliminated in the first round. Walker, who has put up more treys than anyone in the league this season, had a particularly dismal performance with just seven points. Walker put up a couple of airballs on his last rack, drawing scattered boos from the fans. |
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