James Jones Pulls 3-Point Upset

LOS ANGELES -- James Jones may be a role player in the regular season, but on Saturday he was the crowd favorite shining on center stage, winning the 2011 Foot Locker 3-Point Contest.

Jones topped Celtics teammates Ray Allen and Paul Pierce -- each greeted with a resounding chorus of boos by the Staples Center crowd -- in the final round, draining four balls at each of the five stations to finish with 20 points. Pierce, the reigning champion at this event, finished second with 18, while Allen came in third with 15.

"Those shots that I was taking out there, they're reflective of how I play the game during the season, so it was an easy transition for me," said Jones. "And I think playing and shooting against some of the best competition in the league kind of brought the best out of me."

Jones wasn't daunted by facing a pair of perennial All-Stars and future Hall of Famers like Pierce and Allen in the final round . As he explained, he's been doing it his entire career.

"I prefer for the other guys to get all the attention, and I prefer to sit in the corner and silently punish teams," Jones said. "So it's a very familiar territory. I'm not the superstar on the team, but I know I'm an integral piece and guys like myself help teams win."

Jones has carved out a niche in Miami's rotation as a 3-point specialist; an astounding 220 of his 259 field-goal attempts have come from long distance. He's currently shooting .423 from beyond the arc, tied for 17th in the NBA.

Also competing were Cleveland's Daniel Gibson, who missed his first nine shots before finishing with seven points; Golden State's Dorell Wright, who finished with 11; and Kevin Durant, whose surprisingly dismal six points in the first round represented the worst score of the night.

Earlier in the night, Golden State's Stephen Curry topped Russell Westbrook to capture his first Taco Bell Skills Challenge. Atlanta, comprised of current Hawks center Al Horford, former Hawks guard Steve Smith and WNBA's Coco Miller topped Chicago, comprised of current Bulls forward Taj Gibson, former Bulls guard Steve Kerr and the WNBA's Cathrine Kraayveld in the Haier Shooting Stars competition.