CLEVELAND, Ohio — The bass thumped, the lights flickered and the NBA’s long-range royalty took center stage inside the sparkling new Intuit Dome on Saturday night. In the middle of it all stood Donovan Mitchell, grinning, loose and chasing a little bit of redemption.
Mitchell entered his second straight 3-Point Contest with a résumé and a mission.
The résumé: 185 made triples before the break, most in the league. The mission: avenge last year’s showing.
“I gotta avenge the last time,” Mitchell said after the Cavs’ win over the Wizards on Wednesday. “I gotta do Sam Merrill a little bit better job. So I’m gonna pay homage to Sam again. Hopefully, I go out there and win it, especially after tonight.”
In the Cavs’ latest victory, Merrill became the first player in franchise history with multiple games of nine or more 3-pointers.
Mitchell had been building toward this all week. It was time for him to make his own statement.
The seven-time All-Star walked onto the floor wearing teammate Jaylon Tyson’s jersey — Tyson had suited up in Friday’s Rising Stars game — and kept his warm-up sweats on for the opening round.
The racks started falling. Money balls splashed. Mitchell found a rhythm that looked a lot like the one Cleveland has watched all winter. Compact release, no hesitation. By the time the final ball left his fingertips, he’d stacked up 24 points. Respectable. Dangerous. Just enough to make the math interesting.
For a moment, it felt like he might sneak into the final round.
Then came Damian Lillard, as the final participant for the opening round.
Lillard, sidelined this season while recovering from an Achilles injury, turned the contest into a reminder that shooters never lose their touch. He poured in 27 points, tying Kon Knueppel for second and sliding behind Devin Booker, who paced the field with 30. Just like that, Mitchell’s redemption bid stalled a rack short and his head dipped in disbelief.
When the numbers didn’t quite break his way, Mitchell could only watch from the sideline as Lillard went on to be just the third player to win the 3-point contest three times.
No trophy this time for Mitchell.
The 29-year-old has already captured the Dunk Contest crown, taken home the Skills Challenge, won the Rising Stars Game and All-Star Game. A 3-Point Contest trophy is the one jewel missing from the collection.
Which makes this feel less like a missed opportunity and more like a teaser.
Because if there’s one thing Mitchell has shown — in Cleveland and on All-Star stages — it’s that he doesn’t mind running it back. So maybe that leaves the door open for a third attempt at All-Star Weekend immortality next season.