The NBA’s All-Star Game is set for Sunday night from Atlanta, with the game set for 8:00 pm Eastern time. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festivities have been reduced to one day, which means that the Rising All-Stars game has been shelved for this season. The Skills Competition and the 3-Point Shot Contest will take place before the game, while the Slam Dunk Competition will take place at halftime. The format involves two captains (LeBron James and Kevin Durant) selecting players, starting with the starter pool and then moving through the reserves.
Let’s look at the field for the various contests, the pool that the captains have to draft from and some thoughts about the game as you plot out your NBA betting course.
NBA News: All-Star Game Preview
MTN DEW 3-Point Contest Field
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Zach LaVine, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Stephen Curry
Taco Bell Skills Challenge Field
Domantas Sabonis, Nikola Vucevic, Julius Randle, Robert Covington, Luka Doncic, Chris Paul
AT&T Slam Dunk Contest
Anfernee Simons, Cassius Stanley, Obi Toppin
All-Star Game Captains
LeBron James, Kevin Durant
All-Star Game Starter Pool
LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Kawhi Leonard, Nikola Jokic
Obviously, without knowing who is on which team, this is difficult to handicap. So instead let’s take a flyer on the selections that the two captains will make. With the first pick, I think LeBron will take Stephen Curry. The two have never played a game on the same team; they did not appear for Team USA at the same time, and if you look at that list of starters and you are choosing a player who can fly up and down the court and score points in bunches, Curry has to be your favorite, especially given his penchant for the dramatic.
After that, I think KD will take Kyrie Irving. The two are Brooklyn teammates, but it goes further than that, as Irving was the Rising Stars MVP in 2012 and the All-Star GAme MVP is two years better.
Is LeBron done picking pure scorers? With Irving gone off the board, the next likely pick for Lebron is Luka Doncic. LeBron has already talked about launching his own brand of shoes through Nike, calling it “Team LeBron” — and having Doncic as his first player under contract, and Doncic has talked about how much he respected James growing up in the game of basketball. It’s a natural match, especially given Doncic’s way of raining threes and getting to the rim.
After Luka goes, I think KD turns next to Giannis Antetokounmpo. He has been the All-Star Game MVP two years in a row, and he was the captain opposite LeBron in 2020. He has already been sitting and waiting to get picked for several turns now, so he goes here.
Next up for LeBron is Kawhi Leonard, the back-to-back MVP of the league. This will give the team some scoring down low to complement what has already joined the team with the early picks. There is not much defense in an All-Star Game, but when things get competitive near the end of the game, Leonard will turn into a shutdown defender.
KD will grab Nikola Jokic next. Centers don’t have much of a role in the track meets also known as NBA All-Star games, but if you have a big man who can fly up and down the field and distribute the ball as smoothly as a point guard, then that’s exactly what you want inside.
With one starting center off the board, LeBron will take Joel Embiid. Last year, Embiid put up 22 points and 10 boards, and his game has elevated significantly this year as Philadelphia is actually a contender in March, so I think he takes this game seriously as well.
KD follows up with Bradley Beal, who can both handle the ball and make difficult shots. He’s scoring 32.9 points per game in Washington alongside Russell Westbrook, and that’s no easy feat.
LeBron will play for his team, but KD is out with a hamstring ailment, so Jayson Tatum will round out this starting five. Tatum will be asked to play the most defense of anyone in this unit, but he can also drain threes in volume.
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