2024 NBA All-Star Saturday Night recap: Lillard, Curry, McClung shine

The 2024 NBA All-Star SaturdayNight at the Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis saw someelectrifying highlights across all four events, including aspectacular shooting display and jaw-dropping dunks. Here’s a quickrecap of everything that went down.

Team Pacers rule 2024 Kia Skills Challenge

After a tight contest, TyreseHaliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner of Team Pacers takethe crown of the NBA’s Skills Challenge. The hometown team bestedother competitors in the field including Team Top Picks (VictorWembanyama, Paolo Banchero and Anthony Edwards) and Team All-Stars(Trae Young, Tyrese Maxey and Scottie Barnes).

"INDYYYY"Team Pacers lifts the #KiaSkills trophy infront of the home crowd 🙌#StateFarmSaturdayon TNT pic.twitter.com/E7AnW3heYQ

— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024

Team Pacers got off to a hotstart, winning the first two events in the Three-man Relay andPassing Round with a total time of 1:07 (relay) and 92 points(passing round), with each amounting to 100 challenge points. TeamAll-Stars then got hot in the shooting round to claim the event,which was worth 200 challenge points.

With the score tied at 200challenge points each, the two teams had a tie-breaker round, whichwas a half-court shot. Team All-Stars went first and nailed theshot with a total time of 58.8 seconds, but Haliburton and TeamPacers responded to hit their's more than 20 seconds quicker to winthe challenge.

HOME TOWN CHAMPS 🏆Tyrese Haliburton hits the game-winning half-court dagger as theTeam Pacers WIN the 2024 NBA Skills Challenge 🙌🏾pic.twitter.com/jpP6fhvswH

— BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) February 18, 2024

This was the second win ofAll-Star Weekend for the home team, after Mathurin also won the MVPaward of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night.

Damian Lillard wins back-to-back Three-Point Shootouttitles

The Milwaukee Bucks' DamianLillard earned his second-straight Starry Three-Point Contest titlein a thriller on Saturday night.

At the final rack and needingjust one shot to seal the title, Lillard missed out on his firstfour attempts before sinking the last shot to defend his crown instyle.

DAME TIME ⌚️Damian Lillard hits 26 treys to take home the 2024 NBA 3-PointContest🎯BACK-TO-BACK 🏆pic.twitter.com/0fqcoAPzRI

— BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) February 18, 2024

He became the first back-to-backwinner of the event since Jason Kapono, who won in 2007 and2008.

Lillard was joined by theAtlanta Hawks’ Trae Young and the Minnesota Timberwolves’Karl-Anthony Towns in the final round and both scored 24 pointsapiece, which set the stage for "Dame Time."

Steph Curry beats Sabrina Ionescu in "Steph vs. Sabrina"Shootout

Golden State Warriors superstarStephen Curry needed every point he could muster to fend offSabrina Ionescu of the WNBA’s New York Liberty to win thefirst-ever NBA vs WNBA 3-Point Challenge.

Ionescu, who set the record forpoints scored in a Three-Point Shootout with 37, put immensepressure on Curry by tallying 26 points to start theface-off.

SABRINA IONESCU.26 POINTS.COOKING.Stephen Curry is up next on TNT! https://t.co/fvM9iOA0ZD pic.twitter.com/nlDCX25eIx

— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024

However, the greatest shooter ofall-time was not to be deterred as he displayed cold-bloodedshooting and ended up with 29 points to win the event.

NIGHT NIGHT 🌙Stephen Curry WENT OFF with 29 threes to win the inaugural NBA vs.WNBA 3-POINT CHALLENGE 🏆pic.twitter.com/kkOp7bGfHK

— BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) February 18, 2024

The historic first-of-its-kindevent was a success, with each made shot triggering a donation fromState Farm to the NBA Foundation to support economic empowerment inthe Black community.

Mac McClung defends 2024 AT&T Slam Dunk Contesttitle

Mac McClung saved his best forlast as he became the first player since Zach LaVine to win theAT&T Slam Dunk Contest in back-to-back years.

The Osceola Magic guard pulledoff a reverse windmill dunk while jumping over NBA legend ShaquilleO’Neal to garner the only perfect score of the evening.

HE'S DONE IT AGAIN 🤯Mac McClung is the back-to-back #ATTSlamDunk champion ‼️Straight 5⃣0⃣'s#StateFarmSaturdayon TNT pic.twitter.com/p2sBx7h2IM

— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024

McClung defeated the field ofcompetitors that included the Boston Celtics’ and NBA All-StarJaylen Brown, Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and New York Knicks’Jacob Toppin to defend his title.