Paul Pierce came into All-Star Weekend with a chip on his shoulder and with a stellar performance in the 2010 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest, No. 34 exorcised some old demons to claim the crown.

After finishing last in his only other appearance in 2002, the Truth climbed to the top of the heap eight years later with a two-round total of 37 points to beat out five of the NBA's best sharpshooters.

Paul scored 17 points in the opening round, tying with Denver Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups for second behind Golden State Warriors rookie Stephen Curry, who led the field with 18 first round points. All three advanced to the second round ahead of Danilo Gallinari of the Knicks, Channing Frye of the Suns and Daequan Cook of the Heat.

As the low man on the totem pole with 17, Paul led off the second round and set the bar at an unreachable height. No. 34 scored 20 points in the round, sinking 15 shots. As Boston Celtics fans are well accustomed to, Paul came up biggest in the clutch, sinking all five of his money balls to score 10 of his points on five shots.

Billups followed with 14 points and Curry came up short with just 17 to give The Truth the victory. Paul ranks fifth in the NBA this season with a 46.3 percent success rate from beyond the arc.

"I wanted this real bad," Paul told TNT's Cheryl Miller as he accepted his trophy. "I know a lot of these people in the stands, when they looked at the names in the competition, didn't think I had a chance. People don't really look at me as a shooter. They look at me as a scorer. But I knew I had a chance coming in here. I think I'm one of the better shooters in NBA history. I wanted to come out here and prove something."

After Curry's final shot missed and Paul knew he was the winner, he ran over toward the sideline where teammates Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo were seated and did a dice roll celebration with KG.

"I knew he had my back," The Captain said of KG. "He and Rondo were over there pulling for me. That's why they came out and supported me. That's how we do. I'm glad I could bring home some hardware."

To Celebrate Paul's big Three-Point Contest win, visit his Spreadshirt store and pick out your very own Truth apparel.

NEXT UP
Watch Paul, KG, Rondo and all the NBA's Best in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game live from Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EST Sunday night on TNT.

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