When the long-distance contest went to overtime, Cook found his stroke. The Heat guard posted the best round of the competition with 19 points in the extra round, cruising past Orlando's Rashard Lewis to win the title and end Jason Kapono's two-year run as king of one of All-Star Saturday's marquee events. Lewis sputtered in the third session, missing his first 11 shots to finish with seven points. Cook had forced overtime by hitting his final four shots in the second round of the six-man competition. "It was very important for me to be focused," Cook said. "I felt this was my opportunity to show people that I should be considered as one of the elite 3-point shooters in the game, so tonight I came out and did that." Afterward, Cook waved to teammate Dwyane Wade, who had been cheering him from a courtside seat. Cook said Wade had encouraged him as the contest approached. "This was one of the times this weekend that I wanted to take over," Cook said. "We've just been talking about it, and luckily I did it tonight." Kapono came up one point short in the second round. The Toronto Raptors sharpshooter was trying to become the third player to capture three straight titles in the event, following former Chicago Bulls guard Craig Hodges, who won from 1990-92, and Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who won from 1986-88. Mike Bibby of the Atlanta Hawks, Danny Granger of Indiana and Roger Mason Jr. of San Antonio were eliminated in the first round. Mason is something of a local villain after hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lead the Spurs to a 91-90 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Christmas Day.
