PHILADELPHIA -- Fittingly, the NBA's 3-point shooting crown belongs to a Sacramento King.

Kings forward Peja Stojakovic defeated Cleveland's Wesley Person 9-5 in a shoot-off to win NBA All-Star Saturday's 3-point shooting contest at the First Union Center.

	Steve Nash's shots were all over the place, but he advanced to the final.

Stojakovic attempted 11 shots in the 24-second sudden death round, hitting his last five to end up with nine points. Person also had 11 shots but made only four of them, including just one money ball.

"I finished second last year and I got another shot. It actually paid off," said Stojakovic, who lost to Milwaukee's Ray Allen in last year's finals. "It was a great competition. There's a lot of good shooters. It was just a matter of who is going to find a better read."

Some clutch shooting by Stojakovic enabled him to grab the lead in the three-player final round. He sank 11 of his last 13 shots and the last rack of five balls to finish with 19 points and edge the 18 posted by Dallas Mavericks guard Steve Nash.

Person followed Stojakovic and could have won the title if he had hit his last shot -- the 2-point money ball on the final rack -- but he hit the back rim to finish in a tie with Stojakovic at 19 and force a shoot-off.

"I'm pleased with the way I shot the ball tonight," Person said. "He made a couple more shots than I did. You've got to give him credit."

In the first round, Stojakovic, the first of eight contestants, set the bar high with 20 points. Person followed with an opening-round best of 21 points, hitting nine straight shots at one point.

Allen was in good shape halfway through his round, but he didn't show much touch after that, missing six of his last 10 shots including the last money ball to fall short of the finals. Allen's collapse allowed Nash to sneak in with 15.

"I was surprised," said Nash, who turned 28 on Thursday and celebrated his birthday with family and friends at an Italian restauarant in downtown Philly on Friday. "I really didn't feel that good. I didn't have the best technique. ... I was all over the place but made enough money balls."

Just as surprising as Allen's sub-par performance was the 8-point round recorded by Spurs guard Steve Smith, the league leader in 3-point shooting percentage. Smith made six of his first 11, then proceeded to miss 10 straight.

"I was lucky that I went first," Stojakovic said. "I was still warm from the warm-up and I was able to make some shots."

Nash started the final round with a respectable score of 18. Stojakovic's furious finish beat Nash by one, but the real pressure came from Stojakovic's Yugoslavian compatriots from around the league.

"They said if you didn't win the 3-point contest this year you don't come back to Yugoslavia," Stojakovic said. "They have been telling me that for the last week. It was fun."

Joe Lago is an NBA editor for ESPN.com.