All-Star Weekend in Chicago delivered exactly what it promised: no fourth-quarter gimmicks, no 4-point line, just fifteen of the league’s brightest names letting it fly at Wintrust Arena. By the final buzzer, Team Spoon had the win, Jonquel Jones had another trophy for the case, and a rookie’s dunk-starved highlight reel finally got its moment.
Jones Adds Another Line to an Already Absurd Résumé
Jonquel Jones doesn’t do anything small. A 2021 MVP, 2023 Commissioner’s Cup MVP, and 2024 Finals MVP, the Liberty center used the second half of Sunday’s game to make it four for four, taking over down the stretch en route to All-Star Game MVP honors. She finished with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting, four made threes, 13 rebounds and eight assists — a stat line that looked less like an exhibition performance and more like a reminder of exactly why Liberty and Sun fans have spent over a decade getting used to seeing her dominate winnable games. Caitlin Clark, Marina Mabrey and rookie standout Olivia Miles all had cases built through three quarters, but none of them could match Jones once the game got serious in crunch time.
Marina Mabrey’s Redemption Arc, Cut Short
A night after a rough showing in the 3-point contest, Mabrey needed a bounce-back — and for one half, she got it. The Toronto Tempo guard matched Clark shot for shot early, burying all five of her made threes in the first half alone en route to a 21-point, 23-minute night on 5-of-14 from deep. For a stretch, an MVP nod for an expansion-team star felt genuinely within reach. But the heat check ran cold in the second half, and Jones’s closing surge ultimately buried the storyline — though logo threes from Mabrey were plenty entertaining while they lasted.
Dominique Malonga Gets Her Moment
The youngest All-Star on the floor and already a double-double threat, Malonga spent most of the night working for good position before Angel Reese sprung her loose for a highlight the arena had been waiting for: a clean drive-and-dunk that brought Wintrust Arena to its feet. It marked the first All-Star Game dunk since Sylvia Fowles threw one down back in 2022 — a reminder of just how rare finishes at the rim have become in an event that’s leaned harder and harder into the three-point line. Malonga only got the one look despite several more attempts to spring her free again, but it was more than enough to make the highlight reel.
When In Doubt, Shoot From Deep
If there was a theme to this year’s game beyond Jones’s coronation, it was volume from three. Team Coop and Team Spoon combined for 127 attempts from deep, connecting on just 41 — a stretch that slowed the pace at times and put a premium on guard rebounding over traditional frontcourt work. With shooters like Clark, Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray and Mabrey stacked on both rosters, the heavy diet of threes wasn’t exactly a surprise. Between heaters from that group and a few timely knockdowns from Jones herself, the volume mostly felt earned rather than aimless — even if the makes didn’t always follow.
Looking Ahead
With the exhibition portion of the summer behind them, All-Star Weekend now gives way to the stretch run — every team back in action chasing playoff seeding, and every MVP conversation from Chicago carrying fresh weight into the second half of the season. Jones returns to a Liberty team looking to lock down its playoff positioning, while Malonga, Mabrey and the rest of this year’s All-Stars head back to their own postseason pushes with a little extra momentum in tow.
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