MADRID, 18 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Damian Lillard (Milwaukee Bucks), Mac McClung (Osceola Magic) and the 'Team Pacers' have won this morning in the three-point challenge and the three-pointers, dunks and skills contests, respectively, of the NBA All-Star 2024, which is being held in Indianapolis (United States).
The great duel of the night was offered by Curry and New York Liberty point guard Sabrina Ionescu, in which the Warriors star, the highest three-point scorer in the history of the North American league, had to make almost all of his final shots (29 points) to defeat the great sensation of the WNBA (26).
The 'battle of the sexes' overshadowed the victory of the triple champion, Damian Lillard, who defended his title against Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks) and became the first consecutive champion since Jason Kapono (2007). and 2008).
Malik Beasley (20), Donovan Mitchell (21), Jalen Brunson (24) and Lauri Markkanen (25) remained in the first round, as did Tyrese Haliburton, who was the fifth eliminated and fell in the tiebreaker after four players tied at 26 points. In the final, a final shot by Lillard gave him the victory against Young (24) and Towns (22).
On the other hand, point guard Mac McClung, the young man from the G League who had won in Utah in 2023, won the dunk contest again after making the only perfect score dunk of the tournament, after jumping over the legend Shaquille O' Neal, in the final against Jaylen Brown.
The Boston Celtics guard finished second, while Jacob Toppin, a debutant in the G League and also in the NBA with the New York Knicks, was third. McClung is the first player to repeat the title since Zach Lavine (2015 and 2016); Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner and Jason Richardson also won the contest twice, while Nate Robinson won three times.
Finally, the host Pacers team of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner won the skills contest, resolved by Haliburton's shot from midcourt.