when does the 3 point contest start

The 2026 NBA 3-Point Contest starts at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific) on Saturday, February 14, 2026, as the first event of All-Star Saturday at Intuit Dome, airing on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

Quick Scoop

• Start time: 5:00 p.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.

• Event order: It’s the first event of NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

• Where: Intuit Dome.

• Watch on: NBC on TV, plus live streaming on Peacock.

So if you’re planning to catch every shot, you’ll want your TV or stream on right at the start of the All-Star Saturday broadcast.

Extra context and timing tips

• All-Star Saturday itself is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, with the State Farm 3-Point Contest kicking things off immediately.

• After the 3-point contest, the Kia Shooting Stars and the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest follow in that order, so the 3-point shootout won’t be pushed late into the night this year.

• If you’re outside the U.S., local listings or your regional NBA broadcaster may show a slightly different listed time, but 5 p.m. ET is the anchor slot to convert from.

Translation: if you tune in even 5–10 minutes late, you risk missing the opening racks.

TL;DR

• When does the 3 point contest start?
  → 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026 (2:00 p.m. PT).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.