Kings guard Kevin Huerter says NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest has been ‘a goal of mine’
Long before the NBA announced the field for the 3-Point Contest on Tuesday, and before The Sacramento Bee on Monday reported Kevin Huerter had accepted an invitation to participate in Saturday’s event at All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, the Kings’ sharpshooter had longed for his shot in the contest.
“A couple years now, it’s been a goal of mine to sometime be a part of,” Huerter told The Bee after Tuesday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns. “I’ve never been to or participated in anything at All-Star Weekend, so for me it will be a first time getting to experience everything. And it’ll be great to compete.”
Huerter, a 24-year-old, five-year veteran, had been in a shooting dip recently after starting the year hot. He made four 3s against Phoenix, his most since making five Jan. 25 against the Toronto Raptors. He shot just 23% from distance in the nine games since, which included the team’s season-long seven-game road trip through Minnesota, San Antonio, Indiana, New Orleans and Houston.
His makes on Tuesday hit nothing but net, which had been a rarity in recent games when Huerter was struggling to find his rhythm.
“I think us getting off the road trip, being home, just finding the rhythm, being able to get extra shots up and reps helped,” Huerter said.
Huerter, after being acquired via trade from the Atlanta Hawks over the summer, started his first season with Sacramento making 49.6% of his 3s over the first 17 games. He had a stretch from Nov. 30 to Jan. 28 when he made a 3 in 26 consecutive contests while hitting 38% on 6.7 attempts per game. That included a 30-point performance against the Utah Jazz on Dec. 30, when he hit a go-ahead 3 with nine seconds remaining to give Sacramento a 126-125 victory.
Huerter used assistant coaches Luke Loucks and Jay Triano as a ball rack at shootaround Tuesday to simulate the competition, something he’s done at recent shootarounds and practices since he knew he would be participating in the 3-Point Contest.
Kings coach Mike Brown never seemed concerned about Huerter’s shooting through his rough stretch. It allowed Brown to help Huerter focus on other parts of his game.
“The one thing I talk to him about is doing other things because he’s more than capable,” Brown said. “When you have a guy like that out on the floor, the first thing he’s going to do is create space for his teammates because he’s got to be guarded. People know he can shoot the ball, and so they’re gonna guard him closely, even though he’s quote-unquote not shooting as well as he would like right now.
“So as long as he keeps working at, which he does do, and tries to find other ways to help us win, I’m good with it.”
Brown mentioned Huerter pulling in eight rebounds in Saturday’s dramatic win over the Dallas Mavericks, his most of the season.
“I can live with that. You can miss a few shots,” Brown said. “Especially with Kevin, the way he facilitates or plays the two-man game. ... Obviously, we have a lot of faith in him. And he’s shown that he can shoot it at a high level for many years, not just this year, but for many years.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
