BOSTON — As hordes of Boston Celtics fans filled the lower bowl at TD Garden, five racks of balls were rolled out onto the court. Four former players were set to compete in a three-point contest as part of the Celtics’ Causeway Classic event, presented by Ticketmaster.
It was a stacked lineup: Paul Pierce, Brian Scalabrine, Evan Turner, and Leon Powe. Two different eras of Celtics basketball represented. Three champions and one Hall-of-Famer among the bunch.
Even Turner felt out of place. Though he was grateful to be back in Boston.
“I qualify myself just naturally, with delusion, as a legend,” Turner joked. “It's not so much Celtics. It's just like a human. It's Jesus, Michael Jackson, me. But no, I'm just grateful to be back. It's always cool to be, obviously, in Boston, and be part of this. And I'm very humbled when they hit me to show up and do this. I'm like, hey, whenever. I don't care if I'm 100th on the list, I get it. I get it. But I'll always show up and pull up. And Boston's fun so, good time.”
As the three-point contest got underway, two favorites quickly emerged. Powe, who shot 0-of-5 from deep range in his five-year NBA career, notched just six points. Turner, a career 29.4% shooter, got to 12.
Both were eliminated after the first of two rounds. And Turner had a sneaking suspicion that would be the case.
“To be really honest with you, I haven't shot a ball in like three years. And that's not even like a joke. Like, I haven't,” he said. “And I've just been lifting weights. And just, if you make a shot, like tonight, I got 12 out of 30. I want to go back to work out and get ready to play again, you know what I mean? So, I kind of just— When you can let it lay down, you do. But I was just happy to be here, [just in the] environment.”
That left Pierce and Scalabrine, who scored 19 and 18 first-round points, respectively. Scalabrine went first in Round 2, finishing with 16. And when Pierce got to his last rack of balls, he was sitting at 15.
He missed the first three shots. Then? Cash. Tie game.
And with a single money ball left (worth two points), Pierce reminded those in attendance of who he is. Clutch.
Paul Pierce wins the three-point contest on the final shot https://t.co/On7zcJyaJC pic.twitter.com/Zi0RWR7Kdk
— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) March 22, 2026
Pierce took home the win, but beating Scalabrine in the final didn’t exactly fill the competitive void left after he retired.
“I mean, I beat Steph Curry in a contest, so this was light,” he laughed.
As for Scalabrine, his three-pointers were called into
