WASHINGTON (AFP) – Stephen Curry sank his last four shots from the right corner to defeat Sabrina Ionescu 29-26 in a three-point NBA-Women’s NBA Challenge at NBA All-Star festivities yesterday.
Ionescu set the score to beat, matching the best numbers by any player in the NBA Three-Point Contest, only for Curry to rally late for the victory, then hug Ionescu as both celebrated a successful effort.
“I knew I had to get hot,” Curry said of his closing run to win the challenge champion’s belt.
The first-ever shootout of the sexes was a groundbreaking showdown between elite guards – Golden State’s Curry, the NBA’s all-time three-point basket leader, and WNBA single-season three-point record holder Ionescu of the New York Liberty.
“A night like tonight shows a lot of young girls and young boys that if you can shoot, you can shoot,” said Ionescu.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a boy. I think it just matters the heart that you have and wanting to be the best that you can be.”
Both shot from NBA three-point range, Curry with an NBA ball and Ionescu with a WNBA ball.
Curry hoped the matchup would inspire young talent to appreciate great shooting.
“For her to have a presence on this stage is going to do a lot to inspire the next generation of young boys and girls that want to compete and see themselves in either of us,” Curry said.
Meanwhile, in the NBA Three-Point Contest, Damian Lillard of Milwaukee won his second consecutive crown, sinking his last shot in the finals to score 26 points and beat Atlanta’s Trae Young and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, who each had 24.
“It was only right that I do it with some drama,” Lillard said. “I didn’t know what I had. I just heard the crowd go, ‘Ooooh.’ I knew I had to make that last shot to get the win.”
Lillard was the first back-to-back three-point champion since Jason Kapono in 2007-2008.
“The first two times I tried it I felt like I tried too hard, practiced too hard, and the last two times I just came out and shot it,” Lillard said.
Mac McClung, playing for the Orlando Magic’s G-League development team, defended his NBA Slam Dunk Contest title, his winning effort being a leap over retired legend Shaquille O’Neal to grab the ball before a reverse jam that boosted him over Boston’s Jaylen Brown in the final.
In the three-man Skills Challenge, an obstacle course plus passing and shooting drills, the victory went to Team Indiana Pacers – Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner.
