Three was the magic number for Paul Pierce and Nate Robinson. Pierce earned some redemption by winning the Three-Point Shootout and Robinson became the first three-time winner of the Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Saturday Night in Dallas. German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki of the host Dallas Mavericks got the American Airlines Center crowd going with an early win in the Shooting Stars. But the finish fizzled as the Slam Dunk Contest lacked the pizzazz of previous years. Pierce shot first and set the tone with 17 points. He advanced to the finals with Denver All-Star guard Chauncey Billups (17) and Golden State rookie Stephen Curry (18) as defending champion Daequan Cook of Miami (15) was among those eliminated. Again shooting first in the finals, Pierce tallied 20 points, making all five ‘money' balls worth two points each. He sat and watched as Billups (14) and Curry (17) came up short. Robinson didn't need any gimmicks this time as All-Star Gerald Wallace of Sacramento and guard Shannon Brown of the Los Angeles Lakers lacked imagination and were eliminated after the first round. Robinson's best dunk in the final round was a two-hand reverse after throwing the ball off the backboard. That was enough to give him 51 percent of the fan vote and edge Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozan. The night began with Oklahoma City All-Star forward Kevin Durant defending his H-O-R-S-E title vs. Boston All-Star guard Rajon Rondo, making 10 of 11 three-pointers after the event was shortened due to a time limit. In the Shooting Stars competition, Nowitzki drilled a half-court shot to complete the six-shot grid in just 34.3 seconds and give Texas the win. The Washington Wizards, meanwhile, have acquired veteran swingman Josh Howard and three other players from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for forward Caron Butler, center Brendan Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson.
