Sabrina Ionescu lost the 3-point challenge to Steph Curry, but she did so dropping 26 points – equalling the winner of the men’s NBA contest.
Curry dropped 29 points in the victory, making the last four shots to take the win. But it was a close one, and Ionescu still matched the number of points put up by 3-point contest winner Damian Lillard.
“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. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or boy, I think it just matters the heart that you have and wanting to be the best you can be.”
Ionescu put Curry on his toes, starting out hot. Curry said he had “flashbacks” to Ionescu breaking the 3-point competition record last summer – a record that Ionescu still holds.
“I saw the first rack … and I was having flashbacks to watching her this [past] summer,” Curry said afterward. “It added a lot of pressure, for sure, and I just wanted to get off to a good start, settle in and thankfully I made enough to get over the top.
“But that was perfect. Great entertainment, great shooting — both sides — and an awesome 70 seconds for both of us.”
For both, it was a moment to showcase the respect between both men’s and women’s basketball players. And for Ionescu, the loss is cause for a rematch.
“Being able to have this crossover and understanding the respect that I’ve been able to receive from a lot of the NBA guys — just knowing that Steph wanted to do this as well, in terms of just respecting another shooter — I think it’s going to show a lot of kids out there, a lot of people that might not have believed or even watched women’s sports, that we’re able to go out there and put on a show,” Ionescu said.
“Obviously Steph won for a reason, and I’m going to have to try to beat him next time.”
