The stage is set for Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game from the United Center. The team captains, once again, are LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two top vote-getters in fan balloting. The format of the game is somewhat different this year. Each of the first three quarters will have its own score, starting at 0-0. The winning team in each quarter gets $100,000 to donate to a Chicago-based charity of their choice. The team totals for the first three quarters will go on the scoreboard at the end of the third quarter, and then both teams will play an untimed fourth quarter until one team has 24 points more than the team that is in the lead, in honor of the deceased Kobe Bryant’s #24. So if Team Giannis is up 100-94 after three quarters, both teams would play until one team reached 124 points. The first team to that point total is the winner. Interestingly, Team Giannis has all Eastern Conference starters, while Team LeBron has all Western Conference starters, by choice, giving this an old school regional look. Check out the rosters as well as our NBA betting odds thoughts on this game.
All-Star Game Team LeBron vs Team Giannis Preview & Odds
- When: Sunday, February 16, 2020, 8:00 pm ET
- Where: United Center, Chicago
- TV: TNT
- Radio: CBS Sports Radio
- Live Stream: fuboTV / SlingTV
Team LeBron Roster
- Anthony Davis
- LeBron James
- Luka Doncic
- James Harden
- Kawhi Leonard
- Domantas Sabonis
- Ben Simmons
- Jayson Tatum
- Nikola Jokic
- Damian Lillard
- Chris Paul
- Russell Westbrook
Team Giannis Roster
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Joel Embiid
- Kemba Walker
- Pascal Siakam
- Trae Young
- Bam Adebayo
- Jimmy Butler
- Khris Middleton
- Kyle Lowry
- Donovan Mitchell
- Rudy Gobert
Why should you bet on Team LeBron?
James Harden should bring some motivation to the floor. Why? During the draft, Giannis Antetokounmpo passed him over, saying that he wanted someone on his team who would pass the ball…and so he took Kemba Walker instead. Does that mean Harden will boost his assists? Or will he try to fill the basket with his own shots? Harden is really the only question mark in the Western Conference lineup. He could go off for 40, or he could line up a row of bricks. But LeBron has enough other stars to cover. And remember Russell Westbrook has won the MVP of the All-Star Game twice.
Why should you put your money on Team Giannis?
If you like Team Giannis, you see some of these second-tier All-Stars (if there is such a thing) putting that chip on their collective shoulder and taking it to the establishment. I’m not sure if the drafting strategy that Giannis used was wise (although I would probably have chosen Kemba over Harden at this point). Even so, this is a hard wager to support.
NBA All-Star Game Final Prediction
Given the format, it seems like the total score could be less competitive than each individual period. Different books will offer different props, such as wins by quarter as opposed to the whole game. It could just break down into four different pick-up games instead of feeling like a cohesive, four-quarter games. The fourth quarter should be must-watch because of that target score. I like Team LeBron’s roster a little bit more, because he has some more battle-proven stars (AD, Kawhi and LeBron) as well as some of the higher-ceiling younger players (Tatum, Doncic), while Team Giannis has some of the more mercurial personalities (Embiid and Butler lead that list). So I think Team LeBron gets the overall win, but Team Giannis could win one or two of the quarters.
