Best and worst of All-Star Saturday: Curry-Ionescu shootout sizzles, dunk contest fizzles
The dunk contest is dead. The NBA vs. WNBA three-point contest is alive.
Here is the best and worst from NBA All-Star Saturday night.
Best: Damian Lillard repeats as three-point champion
Few people would have put Lillard in the same sentence as retired NBA pro Jason Kapono before Saturday night, but that changed when Lillard became the first player to win back-to-back three-point competitions since Kapono in 2007 and 2008.
The eight-time All-Star made things dramatic by missing the first four balls on his final rack, needing to make his final shot to win against Hawks guard Trae Young.
Lillard became the seventh player in league history to win consecutive three-point contests, also joining Larry Bird (1986-88), Craig Hodges (1990-92), Mark Price (1993-94), Jeff Hornacek (1998, 2000) and Peja Stojakovic (2002-03).
Worst: Jaylen Brown's dunk contest
The Celtics forward was celebrated before the dunk contest for becoming the first All-Star since 2018 to compete, but he ended Saturday night's festivities as perhaps the biggest villain. He made the finals controversially after he was jeered on his second dunk over YouTuber Kai Cenat.
The attempt was lousy. While Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Mac McClung, who won for the second year in a row, jumped over Shaquille O'Neal on dunk attempts, the best Brown could do was a leap over a streamer? It was nice of Brown to participate, but he may have scared off other All-Stars from following his lead and suffering the same fate.
Best: Indiana Pacers in the skills competition
The hometown Pacers began the night acing the fundamentals in the skills competition with Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner.
As was the case during the first half of the season, Haliburton was the breakout star, beating the All-Star group consisting of Trae Young, Scottie Barnes and Tyrese Maxey in a tiebreak by draining a halfcourt shot 20.5 seconds faster than the All-Star trio could.
Worst: Lefty Anthony Edwards
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft wasn't lying when he said he would shoot left-handed during All-Star weekend.
The Timberwolves probably hope he gets it out of his system in Indiana because Edwards' left-handed shot looked rough. He missed all of his three-point attempts in the skill competition, including two that hit the side of the backboard.
Best: Sabrina Ionescu and Stephen Curry shoot lights out
The highlight of the night was Ionescu and Curry launching threes in the first NBA vs. WNBA three-point competition. Ionescu kicked things off by making nine of her first 10 shots, but Curry, the greatest three-point shooter in basketball history, squeaked by with the championship belt after knocking down his second-to-last ball. As fun as the competition was, more importantly, the pair laid the foundation for an event that should become a fixture at future All-Star weekends.
Worst: NBA slam dunk judges
Was this year the worst dunk contest ever? It definitely felt like it. A big reason for that was the judges who somehow thought Brown was better than Jaquez or Jacob Toppin.
As noted above, even the addition of Brown, an All-Star, couldn't save the dunk contest. After this year's snoozefest, it's harder than ever to justify its existence.
Best: Malik Beasley's shoes
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Thankfully, not Timberwolves guard Beasley's SpongeBob SquarePants-inspired shoes.
He may have scored a contest-low 20 points, but with kicks like those, Beasley deserves a round of applause.
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