Stephen Curry on Saturday sank his last four shots from the right corner to defeat Sabrina Ionescu 29-26 in a three-point NBA-WNBA Challenge at the NBA All-Star festivities.
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.
Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY
The first-ever shoot-out 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,” Ionescu said. “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.
“This couldn’t have gone any better in the sense of us two taking the challenge in front of this stage. To deliver like that, like she said, the ball was unbelievable to watch,” Curry said. “I don’t know if anybody can fill these shoes, but this might need to be something we do more often.”
Ionescu challenged Curry after she made 37 of a possible 40 points in last year’s WNBA Three-Point Contest, the best score in any single round of a WNBA or NBA three-point competition.
“That was amazing, just to be able to have this be the first of its kind event and come out here and put on a show, understanding what this means,” Ionescu said. “Excited to change the narrative and be able to do it alongside the greatest to ever do it.”
Curry said he 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.
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.
“It feels really good,” McClung said. “I’m honored.”
He was the first repeat winner since Zach LaVine in 2015-2016.
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.
Haliburton sank a half-court shot to win a tiebreaker over Team All-Stars -- Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, Atlanta’s Trae Young and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey.
The Pacers won the first two events, but the All-Stars took the shooting to force the decisive half-court shoot-out.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said