Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu falls to Golden State's Steph Curry in All-Star Three-Point challenge
In a historic three-point challenge, Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors faced off in a shootout at 2024 NBA All-Star weekend on Saturday night.
The two have discussed going head-to-head since the star guard shot an incredible 92.6 percent and broke Curry's single-round record with 37 points (out of 40 max) during last year’s competition at the WNBA All-Star Game.
"I gotta go after Sabrina's record," the Warriors point guard said earlier this year. "I got something to shoot for now that she went crazy with the 37 points in their All-Star weekend. We gotta settle that one for sure."
And finally, on Saturday night, the two settled the score.
Ionescu was originally set up to shoot from the WNBA three-point line (22 feet, 1.75 inches) but earlier in the day she decided she wanted to keep things evened up and shoot from the NBA arc (23 feet, nine inches).
The Liberty's star guard went first and she got off to a scorching hot start, knocking down six consecutive shots over the first two racks. Ionescu continued with her smooth and easy stroke and went on to finish with a total of 26 points, which tied the leader in the NBA competition.
Knowing the number he needed to beat, though, Curry came out and simply did what he's done his whole career. The 10-time All-Star and two-time three-point champ put up a total of 29 points to defeat Ionescu.
No matter the result, both sharpshooters put on an absolute show and made it clear that this event had a much bigger impact.
"This is a pinch-me moment," Ionescu said. "The opportunity for me to be out here, not only to represent myself but to really understand what this is doing for the next generation of athletes growing up seeing us on an equal playing field and competing against each other, I think it's going to open the door for many opportunities to come.
"Doing this can show so many young girls out there that are watching that they can go out there and they can beat a boy on a playground. We both understand that that's the door we're opening and bridging that gap and we're doing so with respect for one another and I'm honored to be able to be the first to do that."
Perhaps we'll see a rematch during next year's All-Star weekend to see if Curry can defend his title.
