NBA All-Star Weekend predictions with 17/1 tip

February 17, 2023

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Before becoming a Sports Journalist for Free Super Tips, Aaron spent three years studying Sports Journalism at the University of Sunderland while taking in the Black Cats' 'glory years' under Martin O'Neill. Now back in Northern Ireland he turns niche stats into predictions for FST, while he's one of the few people on this island who is equally comfortable at Windsor Park and the Aviva.

The NBA regular season is on hold this weekend, as the game’s greats descend on Utah for the 72nd All-Star game. The league has done a great job of turning the game into a weekend-long celebration of basketball, with the highlight usually coming on the Saturday night before the game.

The NBA runs three competitions on All-Star Saturday; the Skills Challenge, the Three-Point Contest and the Dunk Contest. Some of the league’s top players are out on their own going for individual glory and below we’ve got betting tips across the three events, along with a 17/1 double.

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All-Star Saturday Double

Skills Challenge

Field: Team Jazz, Team Rooks, Team Antetokounmpos

The Skills challenge was revamped last year, changing to a three-man team format. As we saw last year, a team from the home city, a team of rookies and three Antetokounmpo brothers will fight it out for the title.

Giannis and his two brothers struggled in last year’s competition and they look even more unlikely to threaten after the Greek Freak’s injury in the Milwaukee Bucks’ final game before the break.

The home-favourite Cleveland Cavaliers team won last year and they were unsurprisingly the most cohesive side given that they play together week-in, week-out.

That should be the case for the Jazz side, which consists of Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton. They take on a Rookie team which is unlikely to be as strong as last year, given that the 2021 draft is one of the strongest in recent memory. Given that, look to the hometown team to win it again.

Winner: Team Jazz

Three-Point Contest

Field: Buddy Hield, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Huerter, Tyrese Haliburton, Lauri Markkanen, Tyler Herro, Julius Randle

The Three Point contest is quickly becoming the highlight of Saturday’s offering, as it’s the one which pulls in the biggest names. Defending champion Karl-Anthony Towns is missing this year, but there are plenty of quality shooters in the eight-man field.

Of the eight, 2020 winner Buddy Hield looks like the best option. The Indiana Pacers’ guard is making his third appearance in the contest, finishing third in 2019 before taking the title in 2020.

He’s been in the top two in the league for three-point attempts every year since 2019/20, while this year he leads the league in both attempts and three-pointers made. Hield is the only player in the NBA to have made 200+ threes this season, while he boasts the best shooting percentage of any player in the field.

Winner: Buddy Hield

Dunk Contest

Field: Mac McClung, Kenyon Martin Jr, Jericho Sims, Trey Murphy III

The Dunk Contest has lost some shine in recent years, with 2020’s battle between Derrick Jones Jr and Aaron Gordon among the best we’ve seen in the last decade. A new generation of dunkers in a league which is increasingly reliant on three-pointers, but this year’s field could turn things around.

Current favourite Mac McClung was drafted in from the G-League to try to turn the spectacle around. McClung has since been picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers and the pressure is on him to deliver this weekend. Going from unknown to favourite may well work against him and could open the field for someone else.

The New York Knicks’ Jericho Sims could be the man to emerge from the field, especially after showing off his huge jumping reach in-game for the Knicks lately. He’s capable of producing some incredible leaps and after a poor couple of years that could swing this one towards Sims.

Winner: Jericho Sims

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