Weekend to remember for Lillard, lots of others
INDIANAPOLIS — NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis had plenty of winners.
There was Damian Lillard, a 3-point shootout winner Saturday and the All-Star Game MVP on Sunday — a two-trophy weekend the likes of which only Michael Jordan pulled off previously. There were Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu, who made their 1-on-1 shooting contest into must-see-TV. There was Karl-Anthony Towns, the fourth player to score at least 50 in an All-Star Game.
And there are the people tasked with updating the NBA’s All-Star record book. They’ll be busy for a while after the Eastern Conference’s 211-186 victory over the Western Conference on Sunday night in the highest-scoring All-Star Game.
Some takeaways from Indianapolis:
Steph vs. Sabrina
For many, what happened Saturday night — Curry beating Ionescu — will be the highlight of All-Star weekend. TV ratings for All-Star Saturday were up by a huge margin and that would seem to indicate that adding the Steph vs. Sabrina matchup captivated tons of people who simply didn’t care enough to watch last year.
Curry beat the Liberty star and reigning WNBA 3-point queen 29-26 in their headto-head 3-point matchup.
“I think it’s going to show a lot of young kids out there, a lot of people who might have not believed or even watched women’s sports, that we’re able to go out there and put on a show,” Ionescu said. “So, it was really exciting to finally be able to do this.”
With next season’s All-Star Game in San Francisco — where Curry plays and the area where Ionescu is from — they are likely to part of Saturday night again. They’re already talking about a team matchup and adding partners; it might be even more cool if Curry and Ionescu team up to take on another NBA-WNBA pair. Stay tuned.
Dame time
It hasn’t been an easy first season for Lillard in Milwaukee. The Bucks haven’t kicked into high gear, have had three coaches already – Adrian Griffin for 43 games, then Joe Prunty as an interim and now Doc Rivers – and there have been times when the Bucks don’t look like a team that can stop anybody.
But this weekend could put some serious spring in their step.
Lillard successfully defending his 3-point shootout title is a reminder of how clutch he is, and he followed that up with an array of 3s in the All-Star Game from some serious distance on his way to MVP honors.
“We’ve been teammates for 50 games,” Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “Game by game, day by day, we’re getting closer, chemistry is getting better.”
Haliburton’s year
Make no mistake: Tyrese Haliburton is absolutely the face of the Pacers, and quite possibly for basketball in basketball-crazed Indiana.
He was a perfect host for the league’s showcase weekend, from showing up in an Indy car to the kickoff party, to happily doing roughly a billion interviews over four days, and then making five 3-pointers in a 1:32 span during the All-Star Game.