2025 NBA 3-Point Contest Odds, Rules, and Betting Tips
NBA All-Star Weekend is upon us! Follow along as our betting analyst, Nick Galaida, breaks down the 2025 3-Point Contest odds, rules, and betting tips ahead of All-Star Saturday night in the San Francisco Bay Area.
2025 Starry 3-Point Contest Odds & Betting Tips
- Damian Lillard +300
- Buddy Hield +470
- Darius Garland +500
- Norman Powell +650
- Cam Johnson +700
- Tyler Herro +750
- Jalen Brunson +850
- Cade Cunningham +1200
| Date | Saturday, February 15, 2025 |
| Location | Chase Center |
| TV | TNT |
On Sunday, the NBA will play their 74th annual All-Star Game at the Chase Center. However, the most star-driven events of the weekend are typically part of All-Star Saturday, and this year is no exception.
In this article, we will take a look at the revered Starry 3-Point Contest, which will be the 2nd event on Saturday, immediately following the conclusion of the Kia Skills Challenge. The 8-player field in the 3-point competition will be headlined by five 2025 All-Stars (Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, and Damian Lillard). Lillard has won this event each of the last 2 years and can tie a 3-Point Contest record on Saturday if he can secure his 3rd consecutive title—something only Larry Bird and Craig Hodges have done before him.
3-Point Contest Format & Rules
The NBA hasn’t released any rule changes ahead of Saturday’s Starry 3-Point Contest, which means bettors should expect the same format that we saw last season. Each player will shoot from ball racks located at 5 main shooting locations around the 3-point arc, testing a player’s shot-making ability from all areas of the floor.
The primary piece of strategy in this event is that players get to decide where they will position their “money” rack. At 4 of the 5 racks, there will be 4 official NBA game balls, with 1 multi-colored “money” ball for players to shoot. Each made shot with an NBA official game ball will be worth 1 point, with “money” ball made shots being worth 2 points. The 5th rack will feature exclusively “money” balls. Each participant gets to pick where they would like their “money” rack positioned on the floor – choosing from any of the 5 ball rack locations. Of course, this can be a tremendous advantage for a player who has a strong skill difference for shots from the corner, rather than above-the-break, or vice versa.
Another fun wrinkle added to the event in recent years is the “STARRY Range” shots. In addition to the 5 aforementioned ball racks, there will be 2 balls located at “STARRY Range” spots on the floor. One of those shots will be between racks 2 and 3, and the other spot will be between racks 3 and 4. Shots made with the white “STARRY” ball are worth 3 points. Per NBA Communications, when shooting from “STARRY” range, players must have at least one foot on the designated floor decal for the shot attempt to be considered legal.
Also of note, any shot attempt that occurs out of sequence will become void. This means that players are unable to skip ahead to their final rack if they are running out of time. Thus, players who put their “money” rack in the final corner could be forced to rush those shots if the shot clock is getting close to expiring.
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Time Limit
Speaking of the shot clock, each player will have 70 seconds to shoot as many of the 27 balls as possible. There are no incentives or tiebreaker advantages for finishing all 27 shot attempts quicker than another participant.
Competition Rules
The order in which players compete in the opening round will be determined by random drawing, with the exception being Damian Lillard, who gets to compete last as a reward for winning the event last year. From the initial 8 players, the 3 players with the highest scores in the opening round will advance to the championship round.
The order in which players compete in the championship round will be determined by the inverse of the opening round scores. For example, the player with the lowest score from the first round will compete first in the championship round.
Tiebreakers (If Necessary)
Consistent with previous years, if there is a tie to determine the championship round participants, a 30-second tie-breaker round will take place between the impacted players. If necessary, the players will compete in an additional 30-second tiebreaker round until the tie is broken, with the winner of the tiebreaker round advancing to the championship round.
In the event that a tie occurs in the championship round, a full 70-second tiebreaker round will be used to determine the sole champion. If necessary, the players will compete in additional tiebreaker rounds until there is an individual winner.
Betting Tips
There are two former champions in the field for this year’s Starry 3-Point Contest – Damian Lillard and Buddy Hield. The one commonality that they both share is a quick release, which allows them to get shots off at a rapid, consistent pace, without the need to jump very high on any individual shot attempt. This is key in an event that celebrates rhythm and timing almost as much as it does pure shot-making ability.
On Friday evening, I will be publishing my full analysis for the event, including shooting percentages from certain areas of the floor – another key metric to evaluate before deciding on a player to bet on.
Image Credit: Getty Images