INDIANAPOLIS — Sabrina Ionescu admitted that she started listening to the crowd toward the end of the final round of Friday’s 3-point competition. She had already hit 11 3s in a row in the middle of her round, electrifying the crowd inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. All she needed to do was close the competition strongly.

Perhaps only Ionescu would call out what she didn’t do after recording 30 points in the final round, tying the second-highest score in the event’s history and becoming only the second player ever to win multiple 3-point contests. Ionescu is the WNBA’s best 3-point shooter, and she cemented her crown with another dazzling display.

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“I haven’t done this in a little while, so to be able to be back in a shootout is always fun,” she said.

Ionescu called Stephen Curry after winning her second WNBA 3-point competition to show off her trophy. Curry beat Ionescu in a one-on-one shooting competition at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, and she was excited to make her return. She didn’t take any practice shots off the rack until just before the competition, and she said she felt no added pressure after seeing New York Liberty teammate Natasha Cloud win the skills competition.

It was a night for New York to remember.

“For me to be able to share it with my teammate, who I share the locker room

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with every day, is really special,” Ionescu said.

WNBA ALL- STAR GAME

The WNBA All-Star Game that featured Caitlin Clark everywhere but on the court resulted in a blowout win for Napheesa Collier’s team, and a record for the Minnesota Lynx star.

Team Collier defeated Team Clark 151-131 on Saturday in Indianapolis, taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter and never looking back in a game that featured the usual level of defense we see in All-Star Games. Collier, the current MVP favorite, posted an All-Star Game record 36 points on 13-of-16 shooting, plus nine rebounds.

The effort earned her All-Star MVP honors and a bonus of $5,150.

She officially broke the record on a 3-pointer with an assist from Seattle Storm star Skylar Diggins, who set her own All-Star record with her 12th assist on the same play.

Diggins finished with a triple-double on 14 assists, plus 11 points and 11 rebounds, the first triple- double ever in a WNBA All-Star Game. Team Collier’s 151 points were also an All-Star scoring record, with seven different players in double digits.

Clark’s Indiana Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell led her team with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Team Clark played without its namesake after she aggravated a groin injury this week, keeping her out of a competition that was almost certainly set up with her in mind as the league’s marquee star.

This year’s game featured four special rules, including a 4-point shot, with areas for those shots designated with four circles (two on each side of the court) located 28 feet from the rim. The players were intrigued.

Other special rules included live substitutions (one player substitution allowed per possession), a 20-second shot clock and the elimination of free throws until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. Instead of free throws, players who are fouled will instead be awarded the maximum number of points for the number of free throws they would have attempted given the foul.

It made for a lively experience, though the players entered the game with a serious tone thanks to their “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts. The All-Star Game was ultimately representative of the WNBA’s state of affairs over the past few years: increased star power, increasing tension over a brewing CBA fight and Clark’s face everywhere, even when she’s not playing.

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