NBA All-Star Saturday is a party and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. Who here hasn’t pumped up your Reeboks and showed off your anti-gravity moves on a hoop eight feet off the ground? **video
Maybe you don’t have all the moves you once did and maybe those shoes don’t pump up the same way for you as they did for Dee Brown. You can still get in the mix by betting on the three skills competitions on Saturday night which sportsbooks have been kind enough to post odds on.
Here’s a look at the players competing in each event and the odds to win along with my best stab at handicapping them.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Participants and their odds:
Lou Williams (+350)
Joel Embiid (+700)
Lauri Markkanen (+750)
Al Horford (+500)
Buddy Hield (+600)
Andre Drummond (+1000)
Jamal Murray (+375)
Spencer Dinwiddie (+500)
This used to be a guard-only event with players showcasing their dribbling, passing and shooting but the format was switched up so it could include the big fellas too. The four guards fill out one side of the bracket and the four bigs battle it out in the other bracket. The winner of each side faces off in the final and of the last two winners have been 7-footers.
It’s not about how fast a player is dribbling through the pylons; it’s about how quickly they can pass the ball into the net and if they can make their first 3-point attempt. Drummond has attempted six 3-pointers this season and has missed all of them. Let’s rule him out. Embiid loves the spotlight but he’s the second-worst shooter in the field. Bye, bye Joe Joe.
If Buddy Hield loses by five seconds in the first round it’ll be the closest game he’s played in since he was at Oklahoma. Spencer Dinwiddie is having a great season for the Nets but he was almost out of the league a year ago and he’s the least accurate shooter from deep between the guards.
That leaves us with Al Horford, Lauri Markkanen, Jamal Murray and the favorite Lou Williams. Markkanen is my pick because the price is nice, his shot is pure and he’s extremely mobile for a 7-footer.
Pick: Markkanen +750
Three-Point Contest
Klay Thompson +210
Kyle Lowry +850
Eric Gordon +375
Paul George +650
Bradley Beal +750
Wayne Ellington +750
Devin Booker +550
Tobias Harris +1100
This used to be an event reserved for off-the-bench specialists like Craig Hodges, Tim Legler and Jason Kapono. But many of the best players in the league are also the best shooters because of the expansion of the 3-point shot.
All-Star players like Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving have taken home the hardware in this competition in five of the last eight years. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been handsome payouts in the past for bettors who correctly predicted the winners. Last year’s champ, Eric Gordon, was listed at +660 and 2016 winner Klay Thompson was +450.
Thompson is the chalk again this year while defending champ Gordon is the third choice. Tobias Harris and Wayne Ellington are the only two players in the field who are competing in the event for the first time.
Gordon and fellow dead-eye shooter Bradley Beal carry the lowest season 3-point shooting percentage at 33.4 and 37. Devin Booker’s 3-point shooting stats are finally starting to catch up to his reputation as a marksman. He’s shooting a career-best 38.3 percent from deep and he performed pretty well when he competed as a rookie in 2016.
Paul George is my pick and not because he’s the hottest hand entering the night. He’s making 47.4 percent of his shots from deep this month on 9.8 attempts per game. He’s a California native and the LA crowd should be pulling for him – especially with the way he’s been flirting with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pick: George +650
Verizon Slam Dunk
Dennis Smith Jr. +190
Donovan Mitchell +210
Larry Nance Jr. +290
Victor Oladipo +375
This event is tougher to handicap with many favorites winning the competition but last year gave long shot bettors so hope. While the 2017 Slam Dunk Contest didn’t live up to the epic showdown among Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine in 2016, underdog bettors were treated to a healthy payout when Glenn Robinson III (+1300) won.
Books aren’t offering that type of value this year but it is clear the hype is behind Dallas Mavericks rookie Dennis Smith Jr. to put up the most impressive showing. Larry Nance Jr. is the best in-game dunking between the four players in this event but his specialty is dunking on guys. Not sure if that will translate as well in this competition.
Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell has flashed some creativity with his finishes at the rim this season. It’s nothing more than a hunch but I’ll back him.
Pick: Mitchell +210
