Mario Chalmers and James Jones to compete in 3-Point Contest

Last night we got to see Heat rookie Norris Cole draining triples and showing the NBA that the Miami Heat have some real stability at the point. Tonight that point will be driven home some more when the Heat's starting point guard shows off his 3-point shooting skills during All-Star Saturday Night.

Chalmers and his teammate, defending 3-Point Shootout Champion James Jones will be on display tonight, giving the Heat some representation for the second night in a row. Even though Rio is having the better year with his shooting from downtown, Jones hasn't really had much of an opportunity. Chalmers has made more 3's (68) then Jones has attempted (50).

Their stats are quite solid even with the large difference in playing time. Chalmers is shooting 45.6% from downtown, good for 6^th in the league, and his 68 triples put him in a tie for 4^th with Anthony Morrow, Brandon Jennings and Jason Terry. Jones meanwhile is shooting 42.0% from beyond, and if you look at his game-by-game stats you can see that whenever he gets an opportunity to play, even in limited minutes, he still manages to put up his shots from downtown.

Here is the way that the 3-Point Shootout with breakdown and the rules for the event.

The players will compete in the two-round competition with the top three finishers from the first round advancing to the finals. Five shooting stations will be set up around the three-point line, with four Official Spalding NBA game balls worth one point each and one Spalding NBA All-Star 2012 commemorative red, white and blue "money ball" worth two points at each location. Each player will have one minute to shoot as many balls as he can. In the final round, players will shoot in ascending order of first-round scores. At the discretion of the referee, television instant replay may be consulted for clarification of rules compliance.