This year's NBA All-Star Saturday night featured familiar events with familiar faces, as we had two repeat champions and yet another title for the greatest shooter on Earth. While the competitions were occasionally underwhelming, disappointing or downright confusing, the audience was certainly left entertained by the displays of skill and athleticism.
The Indiana Pacers' three-man team of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner started off the night by winning the Skills Challenge. After that, Damian Lillard successfully defended his title in the NBA 3-point Contest, facing a field that featured Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young, Karl-Anthony Towns, Lauri Markkanen, Malik Beasley and Haliburton. Lillard took down Young and Towns in the finals for his second straight win.
Next came the highly anticipated Steph vs. Sabrina 3-point shootout, a head-to-head matchup between the Golden State Warriors guard and the New York Liberty star. Going first, Ionescu put the pressure on Curry with a 26-point round, but Curry responded with a score of 29 to win the first-of-its-kind event.
Finally, Mac McClung, a member of the G League's Osceola Magic, successfully defended his title in a four-player Dunk Contest field that had a boost in star power in 2024. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown made it to the finals in the first appearance in the event by an All-Star since 2018. Ultimately, McClung was simply too good, as he won his second straight Dunk Contest title.
Here's a list of the winners, along with a recap of some of the night's best moments:
NBA All-Star Saturday Night results
- Skills Challenge: Team Top Picks vs. Team Indiana Pacers vs. Team All-Stars (Winner: Team Indiana Pacers)
- 3-point Contest: Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, Lauri Markkanen, Malik Beasley, Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young, Karl-Anthony Towns (Winner: Damian Lillard)
- Steph vs. Sabrina 3-point Contest: Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu (Winner: Stephen Curry)
- Slam Dunk Contest: Mac McClung, Jaylen Brown, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jacob Toppin (Winner: Mac McClung)
Best moments from NBA All-Star Saturday Night
Steph beats Sabrina
Despite a 26-point first round from Ionescu that tied the best score in the men's competition, Curry put up 29 points in the final round to win the head-to-head matchup. Curry made eight of his nine money balls to take the championship belt.
"I think a night like tonight shows a lot of young girls and young boys that if you can shoot, you can shoot," Ionescu said afterward. "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 you can be."
Curry then suggested that this might become a yearly event, though perhaps with different NBA and WNBA players.
"This might be something we need to do more often," Curry said.
Mac Attack Part II
It looked for a while that McClung's championship reign might have been in peril, as the judges were less than kind to his first couple of dunks, but ultimately the G League star was not to be denied. His dunks were consistently the most creative, athletic and powerful of the bunch, so his second straight Dunk Contest title is well deserved.
"I'm honored. I wish I could have given more to this crowd," McClung said afterward. "It's an honor to be here right now."
Dame Time shows up for 3-point Contest
Lillard said, "it's only right that I did it with some drama," and he sure was right. The Milwaukee Bucks All-Star needed just one shot to go in on his final rack to take home the title, but he proceeded to miss his first four attempts from the left corner. In true Lillard fashion, however, he splashed his final money ball to win the 3-point Contest as time expired.
Lillard, who put up the highest score in the four-way tiebreaker to get to the finals, becomes the first player since Jason Kapono in 2008 to repeat as 3-point Contest champion. He also suggested that he could look for a three-peat next year in his native Bay Area.
Hali steals the spotlight
In his home city, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton's first big All-Star Weekend moment came at the end of the first round of the Skills Challenge. All Haliburton needed to do was make a simple layup, but because they had a huge lead in time, the first-time All-Star and NBA assist leader decided to assist himself on a between-the-legs, off-the-backboard dunk to punctuate his team's win in the relay race.
The highlights didn't stop there, however, as Haliburton made a clutch halfcourt shot during the final tiebreaker round to give Team Indiana Pacers the win in the Skills Challenge.
