The NBA All-Star weekend does their skills competitions the right way. They keep them fairly consistent year to year and bring in guys who actually want to compete rather than forcing players to perform one or two skills. This keeps the competitions entertaining and competitive, and allows you to compare results from year to year.
This year the All-Star Festivities will begin on Friday night with the Celebrity Game and Panini Rising Stars Tournament (broadcast in Canada on TSN4). The Skills Competitions will take place Saturday night (starting at 8pm on TSN4 and TSN5) with the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest taking center stage. The NBA All-Star Game will then take place Sunday night starting at 8pm EST (Sportsnet).
I will give my pick for the winner of each skills competition event below using the odds found at SportsInteraction.com (odds from February 15th).
Skills Challenge
The skills challenge will feature 3 teams of 3 that will compete in three challenges that include Team Shooting, Team Passing and Team Relay. A Half-court Shot challenge is available as a tie-breaker.
I think anyone can win this event, so I’m looking at Team Pacers to use their chemistry and the energy of the home town crowd to get the win.
Play: Team Pacers 3.20
3-Point Contest
As you can see from the odds this competition is up for grabs this year. Defending champion Damian Lillard is the favorite of this stacked field.
I like Karl-Anthony Towns at odds of 9.00. Have people already forgotten that Towns won the 3-Point Contest two years ago, and didn’t participate last year. He has the experience and he’s proven he can win this competition on the biggest stage. Add in the fact that his final score of 29/40 that year is the highest score since the max was changed to 40. I think he’s a steal at 8-1.
Play: Karl-Anthony Towns 9.00
Slam Dunk Contest
I’m going to stick with my theory that the players are basically on an even playing field in each of these skills comps. Mac McClung is the favourite here to repeat as champion, but I will be going with Jaime Jaquez Jr. because I think he has the ability to get the crowd and judges on his side if he makes his dunks.
Play: Jaime Jaquez Jr. 9.00
You can find all of these NBA All-Star weekend odds and many others at SportsInteraction.com by selecting ‘Basketball’ from the Sports menu, selecting ‘Events’ and ‘Futures’ and scrolling down the page.
Tagged With : NBA All-Star Betting • NBA All-Star Game • NBA betting
