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Commanders trade gives Jayden Daniels another weapon
ASHBURN, Va. -- The film suggests Washington Commanders receiver Deebo Samuel still has something left in the tank.
He can still turn shorter catches into long runs. He can still play physically. He can still create chances for teammates because of the way opposing defenses must account for him. And, perhaps most importantly, he can add an element Washington has sorely needed.
"[He's] so damn tough," one NFC coach said.
The coach raved about Samuel's balance through contact and called him a "total baller" on offense.
But then came the big caveat.
"Can he be healthy and available?" the coach asked.
And that's the big question no one can answer until Samuel suits up for the Commanders after being traded from the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday. It's not that Samuel misses a lot of games -- he has missed a combined nine in the past four years. It's about the cumulative toll of his physical style as he creeps into his 30s. And it's ultimately why Washington only needed to send a fifth-round pick to acquire the former All-Pro from the 49ers.
But Washington has bet on veteran stars before -- and it paid off. Last offseason, the franchise signed linebacker Bobby Wagner, tight end Zach Ertz and running back Austin Ekeler. Wagner and Ertz started every game and all three were productive, with Wagner earning second-team All-Pro honors. Ekeler also had strong numbers, though he did miss five games.
Samuel, 29, is eight months younger than Ekeler, and arrives with an intriguing skill set that can be enhanced, or at least properly utilized, under Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. He and quarterback Jayden Daniels had the NFL's fifth-highest-scoring offense last season.
Kingsbury coaxed production out of the likes of receivers Olamide Zaccheaus (career-high 45 receptions, 35 more than the previous year) and Dyami Brown (career-high 30 receptions, 18 more than his previous best).
With Samuel, Washington now has a mobile chess piece for Kingsbury to utilize. Samuel can line up all over the field as a receiver and he can align in the backfield, where he's capable of running the ball or a route. Washington can also pair him with Ekeler in the backfield, giving defenses two pass-catching threats who can also run.
"It's just his ability to just find things that people are really good at," Ertz said of Kingsbury late in the 2024 season. "He uses guys to their strengths, which seems very simple and would be common sense, but it's just not the case.
"He's not going to ask you to do something that you don't feel comfortable with or don't feel confident in, and he's going to use guys in any which way if they have one really good trait. You see that with guys that haven't had a lot of success."
The quarterback throwing the ball to those targets helped as well. Daniels was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the Commanders to their first NFL title game since the 1991 season. As one NFC coach said, Samuel is a "super version" of Zaccheaus. And there's a thought that, as well as San Francisco's Brock Purdy has played, being with Daniels will boost Samuel even more.
Samuel's addition also serves as a balance to star wide receiver Terry McLaurin's game. McLaurin is a major downfield threat. He was tied for seventh with seven catches on throws that traveled 25 yards or more last season. Since 2019, McLaurin has 41 career receptions of that length or more (third-most in the NFL, five behind leader Tyreek Hill), while Samuel has nine such plays.
Samuel does his work after the catch, averaging 9.0 such yards in his career, and can provide a physical underneath threat who can be explosive for Washington's offense. That should help when teams focus more on McLaurin, as they often do.
Samuel doesn't solve all of Washington's receiver issues. As of now, the Commanders don't have a deep unit as Zaccheaus, both Browns and Jamison Crowder -- four of their top six last year -- are free agents. They could use another deep threat.
Daniels' second season will be about how he can build on his first. But adding talent around him also will help both the quarterback and the entire offense as a whole.
Samuel is coming off an interesting year: In his first eight games, he recorded two 100-yard games and finished six games with at least 54 yards. In his final seven, he had six games with 22 yards or less. But he also was impacted by calf, wrist, oblique and rib injuries.
That final stretch is why questions will follow Samuel into the season.
This is the second time general manager Adam Peters has traded for a veteran with injury concerns. He sent two draft picks to New Orleans in exchange for corner Marshon Lattimore. The success of that move remains to be seen.
But if Samuel stays healthy, then Washington will have boosted an offense that did quite well with lesser all-around talent.
Catalano Takes Third Win Of VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Season
AUSTIN A wild ending in Saturdays first race of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race at Circuit of The Americas snapped Valentino Catalanos overall and P3 class winning streak, but the German returned to his winning ways on Saturday afternoon.
Driving the No. 30 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08, Catalano started the race from the pole position and remained out front for the duration of the 45-minute race to record his third victory in four races this season. Catalano beat teammate Oscar Tunjo to the checkered flag in the No. 31 Gebhardt Duqueine by 48.813 seconds.
This morning we were a bit unlucky, said Catalano, who along with his teammate, seemingly ran out of fuel on the penultimate lap of Race 1. I mean, it is racing and sometimes that happens, but we knew that we were quick. I felt comfortable with the car. The car felt well. So we just kept our focus for the next race.
In Race 2, we just brought it together and it worked out, so Im really happy about showing my potential and getting the result for it.
Tunjo followed closely behind Catalano for much of the race before fading in the closing laps. He also incurred a 10-second post-race penalty for passing under a local yellow, but it did not affect his finishing position.
Third place in P3 went to Jonathan Woolridge in the No. 54 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 for his third consecutive podium result. Woolridge scored his second series victory in Race 1 and vaulted into second place in the P3 point standings with a solid weekend in Texas. He trails Catalano by 110 points, 1310-1200, with four of 12 races now in the books.
Brian Thienes took his third consecutive P3 Bronze Cup victory in the No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P320.
Walker Sweeps COTA Weekend in No. 6 Turner Motorsport BMW
Jake Walker had a perfect weekend at Circuit of The Americas. The young Pennsylvanian started both races from the GTDX class pole position, claimed his first series victory on Saturday morning and made it a clean sweep with a victory in Race 2 aboard the No. 6 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.
Walker made a quick getaway at the drop of the green flag to pull into the class lead and controlled the race from the front. Although his gap narrowed a bit toward the end of the race, Walker was never in any jeopardy of losing the race and finished 10.759 seconds ahead of AJ Muss to win the race.
In the beginning, we got a good run, Walker said. We got ourselves a gap and we just kept picking away at the GT4s (GSX cars) and LMP3s and catching the lapped traffic navigating it and keeping the car clean. That was mainly our race.
Muss drove the No. 66 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 to his second runner-up result of the day and his fourth GTDX class podium in as many races this season. As a result, Muss now finds himself atop the class point standings by 10 points, 1260-1250, over Adam Adelson, who encountered an early issue in his No. 24 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R that dropped him far behind the field. He eventually battled back to finish sixth in class.
Matias Perez Companc made it two Af Corse Ferraris on the podium with a third-place performance in the No. 50 Ferrari.
Samantha Tan capped off a successful COTA weekend with her second Bronze Cup class victory and a fourth-place GTDX class result in the No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3.
Porter Claims Breakthrough Victory in GSX in No. 68 RAFA Racing Toyota
A RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 has been out front for all of the GSX class season thus far.
However, when the checkered flag fell on Race 2 at COTA, it was not the No. 8 Supra driven to three consecutive victories by Kiko Porto. This time, it was Ian Porter, who claimed his maiden series victory aboard the No. 68 Toyota.
For the first 39 minutes of the 45-minute race, Porto was having another dominating performance. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, an unspecified mechanical issue reared its ugly head at the most inopportune time, forcing the No. 8 machine to slow dramatically on course and eventually pull off in a safe location trackside.
That opened the door for Porter who was having his own adventures in the No. 68 Supra but not enough to keep him from the top step of the podium for the first time in his VP Racing SportsCar Challenge career.
That was probably the scariest race Ive ever driven because were doing multi-class (racing) and I had no left mirror, Porter said. I had no right mirror. The rear camera was way, way too dark for how bright it was. And then you cant see anything out of the top mirror, so it was a terrifying situation to try to figure out where the GT3s (GTDX cars) are. A lot of it, I was actually just doing by sound because I had no visuals.
In addition to the GSX class victory, Porter also claimed Bronze Cup honors in the class.
This is my second year racing and its an incredible feeling, he said. I mean, that was an actual battle to pass every single car that I had to pass, so it was very refreshing, especially coming from iRacing and online. Thats what Im used to and now Im just seeing this in real life and through my own two eyes and its just wild. Im 15 months in and got an IMSA victory under my belt, so its nice.
Chris Walsh wound up second in GSX aboard the No. 10 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4 GT4 EVO, coming home 9.107 seconds behind Porter. Steven Clemons finished third in the No. 76 BSI Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 despite crossing the finish line just 0.827 seconds behind Porter as he was assessed a 10-second post-race penalty for multiple track limits violations early in the race.
Despite the setback, which saw Porto finish last in the GSX class, the Brazilian still has a fairly comfortable, 150-point lead, 1270-1120, in the championship standings.
The Chicago Blackhawks sent defenseman Seth Jones to the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers in a blockbuster trade Saturday night.
The Panthers acquired Jones, 30, and a 2026 fourth-round draft pick from the Blackhawks for goaltender Spencer Knight, 23, and a 2026 conditional first-round pick. Chicago is retaining part of Jones' contract through 2030, bringing his annual cap hit for the Panthers to $7 million. Jones makes $9.5 million against the salary cap and is in the third year of an eight-year contract. The Blackhawks will retain $2.5 million on Jones through 2030.
The first-round pick slides to 2027 if the Panthers trade their 2026 first-rounder before this year's draft.
Jones is in his 12th NHL season, having played for the Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Blackhawks. He has 27 points in 42 games, skating 24:30 per game. Chicago acquired him from Columbus in 2021. Jones was selected No. 4 in the 2013 draft by the Predators.
"Seth is an elite veteran defenseman and a proven leader in our league," said Florida general manager Bill Zito, who was with the Blue Jackets when they picked up Jones from the Predators. "He has been one of the most consistent players of the past decade, serving as a reliable workhorse on both sides of the puck, and he will help our club continue to compete at the highest level."
Jones revealed recently that he had spoken to the Blackhawks about a trade out of Chicago, which has been in a prolonged rebuild. He had become more vocal recently about his dissatisfaction with the direction of the franchise.
"We're the exact same team right now as we were Game 1. It's pretty evident out there. We haven't made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows. We don't get a lot of wins because of that," Jones said this week after a 2-1 loss at the Utah Hockey Club. "This has been almost four years of bottom of the league."
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, in speaking with Chicago Sports Network, said that Jones' comments in Utah resonated, and helped to move the deal forward. "I felt a little more urgency, I would say, once that became public," he added.
Knight, the No. 13 pick in the 2019 draft, is in his fourth NHL season. He is 12-8-1 in 23 appearances with a .907 save percentage.
"No trade's easy," Davidson said. "But I think we landed in a great spot for the organization."
Kumble: 'Quality and variety' make South Africa a complete bowling attack
"I think one good thing about South Africa is that all three of their fast bowlers that played today - of course Mulder is the one who bowls the middle periods - but if you look at the three tall fast bowlers, all of them are really tall. And all of them are different," Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo's Match Day show.
"Their angles are very different. Rabada is very classical whereas Ngidi is pretty awkward to face with his action and Marco Jansen comes at such height. So all three are very different. So that's the nature you want in a one-day. That's the variation.
"Even on a flat track, it's not easy for the batters to line up because all three are very different. And that's something that South Africa can certainly feel [confident] they have this kind of a quality and also the variety going into the business end of the tournament."
Kumble: Jansen the 'complete package for South Africa'
Jansen set the tone in South Africa's win against England, dismissing their top three inside seven overs with his bounce. He also took three catches, including one off his own bowling.
"I think he's still very young, although he has played quite a lot of cricket. He has certainly matured," Kumble said. "I'm sure these three wickets [will give him confidence], and also you can see his athleticism in the field with all those catches.
"He has improved a lot with his batting as well. He has contributed with the bat on many occasions for South Africa. So in that sense he's a complete package for South Africa at No. 7 or No. 8.
"And with the ball, with the new ball he can bring the ball back in. He's tall so it's not easy for the batters to just get under him," he said. "We saw that with Phil Salt, it just took off. It was quite steep, the bounce, and he couldn't get over it. You need that variety in your bowling attack and that's something that South Africa have in plenty."
Jofra Archer a flicker of hope amid England's gloom
"He's been out of competitive cricket for a couple of years," McCullum said. "I think it's taken just a little bit of time to get that rhythm of gameplay back but I think he's been really good. He's bowled high pace, he's played a lot of cricket, he's been able to get significant workload under his belt throughout this time and we've seen moments of how great Jofra is, even tonight, a couple of wickets he took the other night against Afghanistan, three with the new ball.
"We know how great a player Jofra is at the very top of his game and to have him back and to have him fit and excited about playing is a real win for English cricket."
With one English eye perpetually on the Ashes, his ability to tolerate increased workloads is bound to raise hopes he can feature prominently in the five-match series at the end of this year. McCullum looked to balance hope with guarded optimism.
"We've got to make sure that we're always doing the right thing by Jof as well and understand the risks involved," McCullum said. "But I'm pretty sure he's pretty keen to play Test cricket and you look at someone like Jof - and if you can add him to the battery of fast bowlers you're trying to build, that can only strengthen this squad. We'll wait and see, but overall, I'm really pleased with where Jof's at and it's great to see him back playing and injury free at the moment."
That, however, is where the positives end. It has been little short of a horror start to his all white-ball stint for McCullum, winning three and losing eleven games, including the last seven on the bounce: England's longest such streak in ODI cricket since 2001. While McCullum said on Thursday England may quite plausibly have won each of their first two games, the crushing loss at South Africa's hands has left little doubt about the true state of their current ODI side.
"We weren't good enough across, obviously very disappointed," McCullum said. "We had high hopes of being able to finish the tournament with a bit of a bang, but we were very poor and we've got a lot of work to do. We'll put our thinking caps on over the next few weeks and start to try and navigate our way through what an improvement looks like across our white-ball cricket and make sure we try and be pretty thorough with that and work out a way that we can get ourselves back to where we should be."
His final innings as captain was a pale shadow of the player who will likely go down as the greatest white-ball batters in England's history. It ended when he tentatively pushed a Lungi Ngidi delivery straight to mid-off; he had scored 21 in 43 deliveries without hitting a single boundary - his second-longest such innings without sending a ball to the fence.
McCullum reiterated his plans to keep Buttler around England's white-ball side. "We still see Jos as obviously a big player within that and he's got a huge role to play. He cared so much about it and he admittedly said that he wasn't able to get the best out of the guys at this stage. I thought it was a brave decision to make and it gives us now an opportunity to be able to start to plot and plan our way forward.
Watkins drops 30 on UCLA; USC clinches Big Ten
LOS ANGELES -- All USC's JuJu Watkins could do was laugh. Her 3-point shot halfway through the third quarter had not even grazed the net.
"Air ball! Air ball!" the UCLA student section at Pauley Pavilion shouted at her.
Watkins smiled. She already had scored 25 points, and USC was up by nine at the time. But the UCLA students on hand saw their opportunity. Every time Watkins would touch the ball, the "air ball" chants resumed, louder with every word. Yet by the time she checked out of the game with a minute left and the Trojans up 17, Watkins leaped over to the now-quiet crowd, raised her hands and asked for their noise.
"That did fire me up," Watkins said postgame, displaying another smile. "I think I would be remiss to say playing UCLA doesn't motivate me extra."
In two games this season, Watkins and No. 4 USC have had UCLA's number, beating the No. 2 Bruins twice, including an 80-67 decision in Saturday night's regular-season finale, a win that clinched the Trojans' first Big Ten regular-season title and their first conference title since 1994.
"It's the truest test of consistency and excellence," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "It literally took every single person, it was such a team effort."
Over the course of the pair of crosstown matchups, Watkins combined for 68 points, continuing her propensity to play her best in the biggest stages and against the toughest opponents. The sophomore phenom now has four straight outings of 30 points or more against UCLA. According to ESPN Research, that is tied for the third-longest such streak against a single opponent in Division I since 1999-2000. The only player with longer streaks during that span is Caitlin Clark; the former Iowa guard had 10 straight against Nebraska and five straight versus Minnesota.
"She's 19 years old. Her talent is off the charts," Gottlieb said of Watkins in her postgame TV interview. "But it's her humility and the stuff you can't teach, [like] the inner drive. I literally had a phone call with her yesterday and I could just sense through the phone how ready she was."
With basketball greats Cheryl and Reggie Miller sitting courtside, Watkins owned the first half, draining four 3s on her way to 23 points. As she is prone to do, Watkins drew an entire defense into her orbit and made tough shots look easy while dismantling UCLA's defensive game plan.
"We did make the adjustment in the second half that we started switching the ball screens more," UCLA coach Cori Close said. "We started having some different rotations that we tried to have to give JuJu some different looks, and I thought we defended much better in the second half. But it's really hard."
In the second half, Watkins had only seven points, but she helped force many of UCLA's 16 turnovers on the night (USC scored 25 points off those miscues) and sealed the deal in the fourth quarter with three blocks and two assists that led to two 3s.
"She has stuff no one can teach," Gottlieb said.
USC forward Kiki Iriafen offered her take on Watkins.
"Playing with JuJu, I'm super confident," Iriafen said. "I know maybe I'm not having the best day; she's going to take care of what she needs to do."
Despite Watkins' magic on both ends of the floor, it was Iriafen who became a second-half scorer, adding 15 crucial points after UCLA had cut its deficit to four points. The Bruins never held a lead.
"We have learned to appreciate the greatness of our stars and also value what everyone else does," Gottlieb said.
The combination of Watkins' prowess and the team that Gottlieb has built to complement her has worked wonders, especially against UCLA, and it has given the Trojans not only the conference title (and a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament) but also a projected top seed in the NCAA tournament.
As USC celebrated another rivalry victory, this one at Pauley Pavilion and complete with a trophy and championship gear, some of the remaining fans in the student section had changed their tune. While Watkins walked into the arena tunnel, one held up a whiteboard that read, in blue lettering, "We love you JuJu."
"We're not done. There's a lot more," Gottlieb said. "But I think you have to stop and recognize moments along the way or else you lose the joy of it."
Davis escapes in controversial draw with Roach
Gervonta "Tank" Davis' history of slow starts nearly caught up to him Saturday night.
Davis' defense of his WBA lightweight championship against Lamont Roach Jr. ended in a majority draw in front of a stunned soldout crowd of 19,250 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Davis retained his title in a fight he would like to soon forget.
Two judges scored the fight 114-114 while a third judge scored it 115-113 in Davis' favor. ESPN scored the fight 114-114.
"Lamont is a great fighter," Davis said after the fight. "He got the skills, like I said before, he got punching power. It was a lesson. Hopefully, we can run it back."
In a strange scene that could have turn the tide of the fight, Davis inexplicably took a knee in the ninth round after getting touched by a jab, but referee Steve Wilkes decided not to score a knockdown for Roach. Davis suggested the reason he went to a knee was because grease from his hair had gotten into his eye. The fight resumed with no penalty, but the knockdown could have swung the pendulum in favor of Roach.
Had the knockdown been called, Roach could have won the ninth round by a 10-8 score. Instead, two of the judges scored the round 10-9 for Davis.
"I just got my hair done two days ago and she put grease in my hair," Davis said. "When I was sweating and things like that, it burned my eyes."
Roach didn't disagree with Davis' assessment of the situation. However, he made it clear that the rules are the rules and he should have been awarded a knockdown.
"If you take a knee and the ref starts counting, it should be a knockdown," Roach said. "If that's a knockdown, I win the fight. I'm not banking on that knockdown to win. I just thought I pulled it out."
Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) entered the fight as a massive -2000 betting favorite on ESPN BET and was expected by many to collect his 29th career knockout by stopping Roach, who was making his lightweight debut. Behind a pro-Davis crowd, "Tank" was unable to give the fans the highlight-reel finish they have come to expect from the Baltimore native.
Instead, Roach (25-1-2) stood in the line of fire, absorbed what the hard-hitting Davis had to offer and responded with shots that stunned not only Davis but those in attendance.
The notoriously patient Davis got off to a slow start in the early rounds as he waited for Roach to make a mistake that he could capitalize on. But Roach refused to give Davis the window to counter and pressed the action. Davis smiled and talked to Roach early in the fight but had to get serious once he realized that his opponent wouldn't wilt under the bright lights.
Roach Jr., 29, had faced Davis in the amateurs and fell short. Their careers went in different directions once they turned pro with Davis being one of boxing's biggest stars and Roach being known as a solid fighter who lost in his only other opportunity at a world championship in a defeat to Jamel Herring for the WBO super featherweight title in 2019.
Davis' ascent to stardom was punctuated by his knockout win over Ryan Garcia in 2023, where he laid claim to be the face of boxing. He almost let the title slip away in an underwhelming performance. Their history may have given Davis a false sense of confidence heading into the fight, but Roach was well prepared for everything "Tank" had to offer, including his renowned fight ending power.
By the middle rounds, Davis' smile dissolved, and he realized that the knockout he expected wouldn't come easy. The champion began to let his hands go to create openings, but Roach held his ground and caught the champion with counters and combinations. Davis worked almost exclusively to the body, banging away as Roach stayed on the front foot and pushed forward. Undeterred, Roach would sneak a counter in whenever Davis' assault stalled. In Round 8, Roach stunned Davis with a counter right hand. Although Davis was never in any real danger, the counterpunching signaled that he couldn't rumble in recklessly.
"I feel like I was breaking him down as the rounds were going on, but he kept coming, so I didn't want to make no mistakes," Davis said. "I kept it cautious."
Realizing the fight could be slipping away, Davis, 30, pressed the action in the championship rounds. Although he landed some big power shots, he never came close to hurting Roach. But the activity gave him the final two rounds on all three scorecards to salvage the draw and leave New York with the title.
Davis landed 103 of 279 punches in an extremely economic affair while Roach was more active, landing 112 of 400 punches.
"I'm just a little disappointed in the decision," Roach said. "I thought I pulled it out, but that's what two skilled fighters do. I definitely thought I won but we could run it back. ... Even though I didn't win tonight, I thought I did but it's a win for me in my book. We are not satisfied with that. We need a real 'W.'"
Sabonis leaves Kings' win with hamstring injury
HOUSTON -- Sacramento's Domantas Sabonis left Saturday night's game against the Houston Rockets early in the first quarter with a hamstring injury and the team said he wouldn't return.
Sabonis was running down the court about a minute into the game when he pulled up and grabbed his left hamstring. Interim coach Doug Christie took a timeout and Sabonis was lifted from the game and taken to the locker room.
The team announced that he had a hamstring injury and would miss the rest of the game.
Christie didn't have any details about the injury after the game.
"We'll see in the coming days," he said. "Probably tomorrow or the next day we'll have have an idea."
Sabonis entered the game averaging 19.9 points, 14.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.
Christie raved about how the Kings team pulled together to make up for his absence in the 113-103 win where six players finished with at least 12 points.
"We're talking about Domantas Sabonis, who covers the stat sheet in a way that's difficult to do," he said. "A lot of guys stepped in and weren't trying to do too much. They were just trying to do what they do and that adds up to everyone pulling the rope in the same direction."
After rare dunk, Steph declares it's 'the last one'
PHILADELPHIA -- With just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter Saturday, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry leaked out after seeing teammate Buddy Hield steal the ball.
Hield quickly passed it to Curry for what usually would be a breakaway layup. Except, for the first time since 2019, Curry threw down a one-handed dunk as Golden State fans at Wells Fargo Center roared.
At the 7:15 mark, Curry recorded his 27th career regular-season dunk. But he said after the 126-119 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers that it was the final slam of his storied career.
"That will probably be my last dunk," Curry said. "I'm calling it right now. That was the last one you're going to see."
Curry had 29 points and 13 assists as the Warriors' five-game winning streak ended with Jimmy Butler on the sideline because of back spasms.
But the Warriors fought to keep their streak alive. They trailed by 13 points with 10:34 left when they went on an 18-6 run, which included three consecutive dunks. The first was when Curry's breakaway jam.
The play happened near Allen Iverson, who was seated on the baseline; Curry arrived at the game wearing an Iverson jacket in honor of the Sixers legend.
Curry, 36, was asked if he remembered the last time he dunked in a game.
"Of course I do," Curry replied. "Six years ago. At home. Right wing. The right corner. A little back cut. I think it was a pass from KD [Kevin Durant]."
Curry's memory was precise. His previous dunk occurred Feb. 21, 2019.
"I was at Oracle. I never dunked at Chase [Center]. How about that?"
Curry explained that at the Warriors' morning shootaround Saturday, assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse told him he wanted to see the game's all-time leading 3-point shooter throw down a dunk.
After the dunk, he pointed toward Stackhouse as Curry walked to the Warriors bench during a timeout.
"He hadn't said that all year," Curry said. "And I haven't heard that in years and it happened tonight.
"It was a very random comment this morning and the fact that it happened, it was hilarious."
Curry said the dunk was a byproduct of how good his body is feeling after battling knee pain for much of the season. And he couldn't turn down "a cherry-pick opportunity."
"And you want to take advantage of a cherry-pick opportunity," Curry said. "That will probably be my last dunk though. ... For sure, I will only lay the ball up. It took everything out of me to get up there."
Tsitsipas beats Auger-Aliassime to win Dubai final
Stefanos Tsitsipas secured a maiden ATP 500 title with a straight-set victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The 26-year-old Greek produced a strong performance to beat his in-form Canadian opponent 6-3 6-3.
The fourth seed had reached the final of the tournament twice before, losing to Novak Djokovic in 2019 and then again to Roger Federer a year later.
Saturday's win was world number 11 Tsitsipas' 12th tour-level title, and the biggest outdoor hard-court trophy of his career.
He defeated 24-year-old Auger-Aliassime - who is leading the ATP Tour this season with 16 match wins and two titles - in one hour and 28 minutes, and will return to the top 10 of the world rankings on Monday for the first time since May 2024.
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