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NBA All-Star Saturday Night betting:
NBA All-Star Saturday Night betting: Slam Dunk, 3-Point, and Skills Contests
By JASON LOGAN
All-Star games have gotten a bad rap in recent years, leading many professional sports leagues to drastically alter their standard showcase format, be it a “fantasy draft” like the NFL’s Pro Bowl or whatever the NHL All-Star Game mutated into this year.
The NBA, however, pretty much has it right. The All-Star Game itself can be a bit sloppy at times but for the past few seasons, the East and West have gotten serious come the fourth quarter – and you just know Kobe’s trying to make this year’s game all his. Then there’s All-Star Saturday Night.
The night before the All-Star Game, the NBA holds its annual competitions: the Skills Challenge, 3-point Shootout, and of course, the Slam Dunk Contest. Outside of some rules and format tweaking over the years, this fun evening has remained a rock-solid appetizer to Sunday’s ASG finale.
NBA All-Star Weekend is also the most betting-friendly event during the pro basketball schedule. Online sportsbooks offer odds on just about every All-Star Saturday Night event, as well as props for the All-Star Game, and even offer wagering on the NBA Celebrity Game, which takes place on the Friday.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the exciting wagering options for the NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto:
All-Star Celebrity Game
Comedian Kevin Hart is now a staple of NBA All-Star festivities, kind of like how "The Fresh Prince" was in the early 90’s. The diminutive funny man – retired from Celebrity Game action – is now the coach of an All-Star Celebrity team, facing off against Canadian hip-hop star Drake, who has close ties with the host Toronto Raptors – when he’s not busy cheering for the Golden State Warriors.
Oddsmakers have Drake’s Team Canada squad set as 2.5-point underdogs, but I don’t know how. Drake actually has some real athletes on his roster, including Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic (8/1 to win MVP), along with former NBA players Tracy McGrady (7/4) and Rick Fox (6/1), and former WNBA standout Tammy Sutton-Brown (15/1).
Toss in TV and film personalities Stephan James (25/1) (plays Jesse Owens in an upcoming movie), “Property Bros” Drew (20/1) and Jonathan Scott (20/1) (one of which renovates houses, so he’s man strong), and actor/singer Kris Wu (15/1) (seems fit enough), and Team Canada could control the boards and get up and down the floor pretty quick against a slightly doughier Team Hart.
Hart’s roster – dubbed Team USA – does have some talent, like former NBA players in Chauncey Billups (6/1) and Muggsy Bogues (3/1), as well as current WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne (2/1). But even those two former NBA pros are on the shorter side. And that’s being nice. Behind the actual basketball players are ex “Mr. Mariah Carey” Nick Cannon (8/1), Joel David Moore (25/1) (the tall, geeky guy from Dodgeball), former SNL crack-up Jason Sudeikis (20/1), and actor Anthony Anderson (25/1), who is playing in his third NBA Celebrity Game.
The total for Friday’s All-Star Celebrity Game is set at 109.5 points.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge
The Skills Challenge has undergone some facelifts in recent years. Last February, they went to a bracket format, which had players going head-to-head to advance rather then moving on based on their overall times. While this doesn’t seem fair, the NBA couldn’t care less about fairness and they’re sticking to the tourney style.
You know what would really make things interesting? Make every contestant eat Taco Bell 45 minutes before the Skills Challenge. You wouldn't see anyone "lollygagging" from station to station then. Those guys would be a big hurry to finish. That'll mix it up.
Instead, this time around, the Association has opened the field to non-guards - more specifically big men DeMarcus Cousins (17/2 to win), Anthony Davis (8/1), Draymond Green (5/1), and rookie standout Karl-Anthony Towns (10/1). Things like the bounce pass and 3-point shot could be troublesome for the bigs, but we’re in a new age of hoops now, where even a 7-footer is a threat from downtown.
As for the guards, defending champ Patrick Beverly (9/2) is back, joined by Isaiah Thomas (33/10), Jordan Clarkson (5/1), and C.J. McCollum (5/1). Seeing as no player taller than 6-foot-4 has ever won the Skills Challenge, it’s a safe bet to stick with the guards when handicapping the field.
But if you have to go big (both figuratively and literally), Cousins could be the play at +850. Boogie isn’t afraid to pull up from deep and is shooting better than 35 percent from beyond the arc on the season, including going 7 for 11 in his last three games heading into Wednesday. Thank goodness there’s no “biting your tongue” aspect to the competition, because Cousins would be a bust for sure.
Foot Locker 3-Point Contest
The 3-point shootout is the wild card of the All-Star Weekend. It has produced the most long-shot winners of any of the three major events on All-Star Saturday Night, and while Stephen Curry did win as a +300 favorite last year, it’s about as predictable as a Donald Trump debate response.
Before Curry broke Craig Hodges’ single-round record last year, San Antonio’s Marco Belinelli won the 2014 event as a +800 underdog. The year before that, Kyrie Irving hit at +550. In 2012, Kevin Love won at +500. James Jones was +450 when he won in 2011, following Paul Pierce (+400) in 2010 and Daequan Cook (+750) in 2009.
In fact, before Chef Curry cooked up a winner at 3/1, the slimmest odds to come in over the past seven seasons was Jason Kapono at +350 in 2008 – and he was the fourth overall favorite on the board in New Orleans that year.
For the 2015 3-point contest, Curry is an overwhelming +225 chalk heading toward the weekend. And that will likely change, with the public jumping all over the NBA MVP at plus money. Behind him on the board are teammate Klay Thompson (7/2), J.J. Redick (5/1), Devin Booker (11/2), Kyle Lowry (11/2), James Harden (8/1), Khris Middleton (8/1), and Chris Bosh (12/1).
As mentioned above, if you like someone other than Curry, it’s best to sit on this until Saturday night and watch the plus-money tick up. It’ll be like dropping a tri-color money ball if that long shot happens to come through. SPLASH!
Verizon Slam Dunk Contest
Zach LaVine is trying to do something only three other leapers have done in the history of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and that’s win back-to-back titles. Michael Jordan did it in ’87 and ’88, Jason Richardson did it in ’02 and ’03, and Nate Robinson did it in ’09 and ’10.
Oddsmakers have pegged the T-Wolves high-riser as a runaway favorite to win the dunk off Saturday, posting him at -250. That leaves pretty big payouts on the other three contestants, with Will Barton at +360, Aaron Gordon at +485, and Andre Drummond going off as a 9/1 long shot.
The dunk contest has been dominated by the betting favorites in recent years, with seven of the last nine winners coming into the event among the top two favorites and at +350 odds or lower. The only two dunkers to pull off an upset were John Wall in 2014 (+450) and Robinson in 2009 (+450) with the Kryptonite.
LaVine won in 2015 at -110 and his current price tag of 2/5 puts him on the same level as past champs like Blake Griffin (-250 in 2011) and Dwight Howard (-180 in 2009). And so he should be. The second-year pro out of UCLA is the perfect combination of explosive hops, size (big enough to get tough dunks down but small enough to look cool), and power.
Not sure how large a bet you can get down on these All-Star props at your online book, but something tells me it might not be worth the hefty cost on the fave (a $100 wager will get you $40). You might be better off throwing flyers on Barton and Gordon and hoping LaVine misses some tough dunks early on.
As for Drummond, well… the dunk contest has never been kind to bigs (outside of freaks like Howard). Watching a near 7-footer dunk is like watching a Liam Neeson from Taken play Hide and Go Seek with a bunch of toddlers (I will look for you, and I will find you…). Maybe if Drummond brings out ex-girlfriend and Disney star-gone-bad Jennette McCurdy and jumps over her or something, he’d have a chance. Even then…
By JASON LOGAN
All-Star games have gotten a bad rap in recent years, leading many professional sports leagues to drastically alter their standard showcase format, be it a “fantasy draft” like the NFL’s Pro Bowl or whatever the NHL All-Star Game mutated into this year.
The NBA, however, pretty much has it right. The All-Star Game itself can be a bit sloppy at times but for the past few seasons, the East and West have gotten serious come the fourth quarter – and you just know Kobe’s trying to make this year’s game all his. Then there’s All-Star Saturday Night.
The night before the All-Star Game, the NBA holds its annual competitions: the Skills Challenge, 3-point Shootout, and of course, the Slam Dunk Contest. Outside of some rules and format tweaking over the years, this fun evening has remained a rock-solid appetizer to Sunday’s ASG finale.
NBA All-Star Weekend is also the most betting-friendly event during the pro basketball schedule. Online sportsbooks offer odds on just about every All-Star Saturday Night event, as well as props for the All-Star Game, and even offer wagering on the NBA Celebrity Game, which takes place on the Friday.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the exciting wagering options for the NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto:
All-Star Celebrity Game
Comedian Kevin Hart is now a staple of NBA All-Star festivities, kind of like how "The Fresh Prince" was in the early 90’s. The diminutive funny man – retired from Celebrity Game action – is now the coach of an All-Star Celebrity team, facing off against Canadian hip-hop star Drake, who has close ties with the host Toronto Raptors – when he’s not busy cheering for the Golden State Warriors.
Oddsmakers have Drake’s Team Canada squad set as 2.5-point underdogs, but I don’t know how. Drake actually has some real athletes on his roster, including Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic (8/1 to win MVP), along with former NBA players Tracy McGrady (7/4) and Rick Fox (6/1), and former WNBA standout Tammy Sutton-Brown (15/1).
Toss in TV and film personalities Stephan James (25/1) (plays Jesse Owens in an upcoming movie), “Property Bros” Drew (20/1) and Jonathan Scott (20/1) (one of which renovates houses, so he’s man strong), and actor/singer Kris Wu (15/1) (seems fit enough), and Team Canada could control the boards and get up and down the floor pretty quick against a slightly doughier Team Hart.
Hart’s roster – dubbed Team USA – does have some talent, like former NBA players in Chauncey Billups (6/1) and Muggsy Bogues (3/1), as well as current WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne (2/1). But even those two former NBA pros are on the shorter side. And that’s being nice. Behind the actual basketball players are ex “Mr. Mariah Carey” Nick Cannon (8/1), Joel David Moore (25/1) (the tall, geeky guy from Dodgeball), former SNL crack-up Jason Sudeikis (20/1), and actor Anthony Anderson (25/1), who is playing in his third NBA Celebrity Game.
The total for Friday’s All-Star Celebrity Game is set at 109.5 points.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge
The Skills Challenge has undergone some facelifts in recent years. Last February, they went to a bracket format, which had players going head-to-head to advance rather then moving on based on their overall times. While this doesn’t seem fair, the NBA couldn’t care less about fairness and they’re sticking to the tourney style.
You know what would really make things interesting? Make every contestant eat Taco Bell 45 minutes before the Skills Challenge. You wouldn't see anyone "lollygagging" from station to station then. Those guys would be a big hurry to finish. That'll mix it up.
Instead, this time around, the Association has opened the field to non-guards - more specifically big men DeMarcus Cousins (17/2 to win), Anthony Davis (8/1), Draymond Green (5/1), and rookie standout Karl-Anthony Towns (10/1). Things like the bounce pass and 3-point shot could be troublesome for the bigs, but we’re in a new age of hoops now, where even a 7-footer is a threat from downtown.
As for the guards, defending champ Patrick Beverly (9/2) is back, joined by Isaiah Thomas (33/10), Jordan Clarkson (5/1), and C.J. McCollum (5/1). Seeing as no player taller than 6-foot-4 has ever won the Skills Challenge, it’s a safe bet to stick with the guards when handicapping the field.
But if you have to go big (both figuratively and literally), Cousins could be the play at +850. Boogie isn’t afraid to pull up from deep and is shooting better than 35 percent from beyond the arc on the season, including going 7 for 11 in his last three games heading into Wednesday. Thank goodness there’s no “biting your tongue” aspect to the competition, because Cousins would be a bust for sure.
Foot Locker 3-Point Contest
The 3-point shootout is the wild card of the All-Star Weekend. It has produced the most long-shot winners of any of the three major events on All-Star Saturday Night, and while Stephen Curry did win as a +300 favorite last year, it’s about as predictable as a Donald Trump debate response.
Before Curry broke Craig Hodges’ single-round record last year, San Antonio’s Marco Belinelli won the 2014 event as a +800 underdog. The year before that, Kyrie Irving hit at +550. In 2012, Kevin Love won at +500. James Jones was +450 when he won in 2011, following Paul Pierce (+400) in 2010 and Daequan Cook (+750) in 2009.
In fact, before Chef Curry cooked up a winner at 3/1, the slimmest odds to come in over the past seven seasons was Jason Kapono at +350 in 2008 – and he was the fourth overall favorite on the board in New Orleans that year.
For the 2015 3-point contest, Curry is an overwhelming +225 chalk heading toward the weekend. And that will likely change, with the public jumping all over the NBA MVP at plus money. Behind him on the board are teammate Klay Thompson (7/2), J.J. Redick (5/1), Devin Booker (11/2), Kyle Lowry (11/2), James Harden (8/1), Khris Middleton (8/1), and Chris Bosh (12/1).
As mentioned above, if you like someone other than Curry, it’s best to sit on this until Saturday night and watch the plus-money tick up. It’ll be like dropping a tri-color money ball if that long shot happens to come through. SPLASH!
Verizon Slam Dunk Contest
Zach LaVine is trying to do something only three other leapers have done in the history of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and that’s win back-to-back titles. Michael Jordan did it in ’87 and ’88, Jason Richardson did it in ’02 and ’03, and Nate Robinson did it in ’09 and ’10.
Oddsmakers have pegged the T-Wolves high-riser as a runaway favorite to win the dunk off Saturday, posting him at -250. That leaves pretty big payouts on the other three contestants, with Will Barton at +360, Aaron Gordon at +485, and Andre Drummond going off as a 9/1 long shot.
The dunk contest has been dominated by the betting favorites in recent years, with seven of the last nine winners coming into the event among the top two favorites and at +350 odds or lower. The only two dunkers to pull off an upset were John Wall in 2014 (+450) and Robinson in 2009 (+450) with the Kryptonite.
LaVine won in 2015 at -110 and his current price tag of 2/5 puts him on the same level as past champs like Blake Griffin (-250 in 2011) and Dwight Howard (-180 in 2009). And so he should be. The second-year pro out of UCLA is the perfect combination of explosive hops, size (big enough to get tough dunks down but small enough to look cool), and power.
Not sure how large a bet you can get down on these All-Star props at your online book, but something tells me it might not be worth the hefty cost on the fave (a $100 wager will get you $40). You might be better off throwing flyers on Barton and Gordon and hoping LaVine misses some tough dunks early on.
As for Drummond, well… the dunk contest has never been kind to bigs (outside of freaks like Howard). Watching a near 7-footer dunk is like watching a Liam Neeson from Taken play Hide and Go Seek with a bunch of toddlers (I will look for you, and I will find you…). Maybe if Drummond brings out ex-girlfriend and Disney star-gone-bad Jennette McCurdy and jumps over her or something, he’d have a chance. Even then…
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