SAN FRANCISCO >> Buddy Hield took ball off after ball from the last rack, and as each shot swished through the net, the home crowd cheered on the Warriors’ only contestant in the NBA’s 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday night.

Hield missed only one shot off that final rack, and he made his grand finale “money ball,” but he was still a point shy of celebrating.

Instead, the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro edged Hield 24-23, and the difference was he made his final two shots to open the final round.

Oakland native Damian Lillard, the event’s two-time defending champion, did not advance out of the first round. The last of eight competitors, Lillard started off by making five consecutive shots, only to miss five in a row, then coming up a point shy of advancing.

Lillard was trying to join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to three-peat as 3-point champions. He fell one point short of Herro for the final spot in the three-person final. Darius Garland came in third with 19 points in the final round.

Wedged between the skills challenge, which saw the Warriors’ duo of Draymond Green and Moses Moody also finish second, and the dunk contest, the 3-point contest lacked the exhilaration found a year ago on All-Star Weekend, when Lillard won his second straight title and Steph Curry edged WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu in a separate challenge.

Curry, who won this shootout in 2015 and 2021, did not host Ionescu in an encore this weekend, nor did he compete in Saturday’s shootout. Following a trophy presentation to Herro, fans finally got a glimpse of the NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter: Curry, who was introduced on the videoboards while sitting courtside before the ensuing Dunk Contest.

“It means a lot. I feel like a lot of great shooters, a lot of great players, some of the greats to play this game have won this award — not award, this competition,” Herro said. “Just happy to put my name in the history books for All-Star Weekend.”

Hield, the penultimate shooter of Saturday’s first round, took the lead with 31 points. He made eight consecutive shots at the top of the arc, and closed with three successful 3-point attempts to eliminate New York’s Jalen Brunson.

Herro said of his night: “I was definitely nervous going into the first round. But I thought I shot it pretty well in the second round, and then Buddy had the chance to tie it at the end. Obviously a great competition, a bunch of great shooters. Like I said, just happy to be here.”

Skills challenge

As the seconds ticked off the clock and the bricks piled up, what had been roaring cheers from the hometown Chase Center crowd Saturday night quickly morphed into groans during the final round of the NBA All-Star skills challenge.

Green clanked all three of his chest passes, bricked one of his two 3-point attempts from the wing, missed each free-throw line jumper and only had time to whiff on a single triple from the corner before time expired and the Cavaliers duo of Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley clinched the championship.

It spoiled what had been a nearly-flawless showing by Moody, who completed six of his seven play-types on his first attempt.

Players had to make a bounce pass, two chest passes, two kinds of 3-pointers, a free-throw line jumper and a layup.

“I feel so bad for Moses, because that was his first All-Star experience,” Green said before adding, “I might do it again next year.”

The Moody and Green tandem blew through the first round with the top official time of 1:10, buoyed by Moody making the first 3-pointer attempted from the corner, needing only a couple of shots from the wing and nailing his midrange shot.

“They know that’s my dog,” Moody said. “He’s going to show up when the lights is on, he’s going to show up when we need him to. I don’t need him in the Skills Challenge, I need him in the playoffs.“

Like Moody, Green excelled at the passing drills early on, but he struggled slightly with his shot, needing two attempts from the wing and free-throw line and missing all three attempts from the corner.

San Antonio, with sophomore superstar Victor Wembanyama and former Warriors guard Chris Paul teaming up, drew voracious boos from the Chase Center crowd to lead off the night.

Neither player feigned even the slightest effort in the shooting portions of the event, halfheartedly heaving the balls at the rim at breakneck speed.

Those jeers turned to cheers when it was announced that Paul and Wembanayama were disqualified for lack of effort.

“It was definitely cheating,” Mitchell said in between rounds.

This wasn’t Green’s first rodeo in the unpredictable Skills Challenge. As a spry 25-year-old in 2016, Green lost to then-Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns in the first round.

“I don’t even remember it, I don’t remember the format,” Green said. “It was like a blur.”

Almost a decade later, Green was back in the event. This time, he paired up with fourth-year teammate Moody.

“I just really wanted to be a part of it,” Green said on Saturday morning. “I figured if I’m ever going to do it again, what better place than to do it at home.”

The Warriors defeated the rookie duo of Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr in the first round. Cleveland’s winning time was 1:00.3.

— Joseph Dycus