TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 13: Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors holds up the trophy after winning the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest during NBA All-Star Weekend 2016 at Air Canada Centre on February 13, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
Golden State's Klay Thompson dethroned Splash Brother Steph Curry to win the three-point shooting contest at the NBA all-star skills competition Saturday night.
Curry made his first seven shots and three of the last four to put up a score of 23. But fellow Warrior Thompson was better, racking up 27 as he hit eight shots in a row in the middle and drained the final rack of money balls as the Air Canada Centre crowd roared.
The other player in the championship round, Phoenix's Devin Booker, had 16 points.
On a day that also saw the East and West NBA all-stars practise and the East beat the West 128-124 in the D-League all-star game, the spotlight switched to individual skills Saturday night.
The NBA showed no shortage of sponsors in naming the evening and its events.
State Farm All-Star Saturday Night featured the Taco Bells Skill Challenge, the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest and Verizon Slam Dunk Contest.
Earlier, Karl-Anthony Towns showed big men have skills too as the seven-footer from the Minnesota Timberwolves beat five-foot-nine Boston guard Isaiah Thomas in the final of the skills challenge.
Thompson led the first round of three-point shooting with 22 points, followed by Curry at 21 and Booker at 20. Curry missed his first three shots and needed to make his final two to advance out of the first round.
Booker won a tiebreaker to advance to the championship round after tying with Houston's James Harden and J.J. Redick of the Clippers at 20.
Toronto's Kyle Lowry (14) did not advance . Also missing out were Portland's C.J. McCollum and Milwaukee's Khris Middleton.
Curry has made 245 three-pointers this season, 84 more than the next player, Thompson (161).
Thomas had the early lead in the skills challenge but Towns caught him on their second trip down the court. At the final three-point shot, both men stumbled but Towns made it on his fourth attempt .
The 20-year-old Towns, the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, was mobbed by fellow bigs competitors DeMarcus Cousins of Sacramento and Anthony Davis of New Orleans players after he made the winning shot.
"I like proving people wrong, so I'm glad I was able to make a lot of people wrong." he said. "I was able to make critics wrong, Vegas wrong, (Minnesota teammate) Ricky Rubio wrong. So I'm just so ecstatic right now."
Both Towns and Thomas had seen off two earlier opponents en route to the final.
The three-round, obstacle-course competition tested dribbling, passing, agility and shooting skills with front court players – Towns, Cousins, Davis and Draymond Green of Golden State competing against guards Thomas, McCollum, Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Emmanuel Mudiay of Denver.
In a side contest, diminutive actor Kevin Hart tied six-foot-seven Green in a three-point shooting contest. As a joke, Green was presented with a giant trophy while Hart got a ribbon.
It was a light-hearted evening with talk-show host/comedian Jon Stewart shown on the bongo cam on the big screen while retired Canadian NBA star Steve Nash quaffed a beer next to him.
Also on the big screen, all-stars were quizzed on Canadian-isms like the loonie and poutine.
The stars were out. Drake was sitting courtside next to director Spike Lee. Actor Anthony Anderson took a picture of himself on the big screen.
Retired big man Dikembe Mutombo shook a long leg during a dance sequence.