The NBA celebrated its All-Star festivities in Dallas over the weekend, with several Denver Nuggets playing prominent roles. First up: point guard Chauncey Billups, who competed in the three-point contest Saturday night. Billups is the third-best three-point shooter on the Nuggets team this year, behind Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson, according to NBA.com, and he was the third-best three-point shooter in the competition Saturday. He finished behind second-place Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and winner Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics (via ESPN, with video). Coach George Karl was also in the spotlight this weekend, fresh off signing a one-year, $4.5 million contract extension with the Nuggets (via The Associated Press). Karl coached the Western Conference team in last night's All-Star Game, and although he didn't come up with a win, he tells the Houston Chronicle coaching the team was one of the thrills of his career. It probably doesn't hurt that he coached the best players in the league, which included two of his own best, Billups and Carmelo Anthony. Melo proved his All-Star chops by throwing in 27 points and snagging 10 rebounds. He had the chance to win the game for the West with a last-second three-pointer, but came up just short. Regardless, he says it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to play Cowboys Stadium in front of more than 100,000 people (via USA Today). Speaking of Melo, Deadspin, lamenting its boredom with All-Star weekend, uses the opportunity to slam him and his fiancee, Lala Vasquez, for their choice of wedding invitation design.