The NBA’s annual All-Star Weekend extravaganza goes down this weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana. For many, the best part of the weekend is Saturday, when the skills challenge, dunk contest, and three-point contest take place. Here are your NBA All-Star Saturday Night odds and best bets, including dunk contest odds and three-point contest odds. Go here for the latest NBA odds.
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NBA All-Star Saturday Night Odds & Best Bets
NBA Skills Challenge Odds & Best Bets
The skills challenge kicks things off on Saturday (8:00 pm ET) in Indianapolis. Like the past two years, this Saturday’s edition will be a team pursuit. Three teams will compete against each other in various skill tests to determine the winner. First, the team rosters:
Team All-Stars
Scottie Barnes – Toronto Raptors
Tyrese Maxey – Philadelphia 76ers
Trae Young – Atlanta Hawks
Team Pacers
Tyrese Haliburton – Indiana Pacers
Bennedict Mathurin – Indiana Pacers
Myles Turner – Indiana Pacers
Team Top Picks
Paolo Banchero – Orlando Magic
Victor Wembanyama – San Antonio Spurs
Anthony Edwards – Minnesota Timberwolves
So we get a team of players from this year’s All-Star roster, a team of hometown Indiana Pacers, and perhaps most intriguingly, a team of former #1 overall draft picks. Now for which events they will be competing against each other in.
First, there’s a team relay, which is almost like an obstacle course, involving passing to a moving target, dribbling through pylons, hitting a layup, hitting a three-pointer over a defender, then dribbling back down the court to hit a layup.
Round 2 is team passing, which consists of – you guessed it – passing drills. They’ll be tasked with hitting moving targets with passes from various distances away.
Finally, Round 3 is team shooting. Guess what they do here?! Shoot – you got it. There will be five spots designated on the court (right side 10 feet away; left elbow; top of the key three-pointer; left corner three-pointer; right slot 30-foot three-pointer). This round is worth 200 points, while the first two rounds are worth 100 each.
If there’s a tie after all this, it’s broken by half-court shots.
The odds have Team Top Picks at +140, Team All-Stars at +180, and Team Pacers at +190.
Pick: Team All-Stars (+180). They are the only team with three All-Stars on it, after all. They’re also all guys used to having the ball in their hands and expected to excel in the type of skills being put on display here. I’ll put my lot in with them to be the most skilled.
NBA Three-Point Contest Odds & Best Bets
You probably don’t need the NBA three-point contest explained to you, as it’s been around for decades now. And this year’s field are some players who have participated – and won – the contest in the past as well. Our field:
Damian Lillard – Milwaukee Bucks (2023 Champion) (+410)
Tyrese Haliburton – Indiana Pacers (+450)
Trae Young – Atlanta Hawks (+550)
Malik Beasley – Milwaukee Bucks (+650)
Karl-Anthony Towns – Minnesota Timberwolves (2022 Champion) (+700)
Lauri Markkanen – Utah Jazz (+700)
Donovan Mitchell – Cleveland Cavaliers (+750)
Jalen Brunson – New York Knicks (+750)
Beasley is the top shooter of the field in this year’s regular season, hitting at a 44.9% clip (Damian Lillard is the worst, only hitting 34.4%). In terms of volume, Trae Young has hit the most long bombs of these players, connecting on 167. But regular season success doesn’t necessarily translate to three-point contest success.
Pick: Trae Young (+550). I’m going strictly with a gut pick here. Young’s name jumped off the page at me when I was looking at the participants (even before knowing he’s hit the most threes among the group), so let’s roll the dice.
NBA Dunk Contest Odds & Best Bets
You know the drill – jump, spin, flip, juggle, etc then slam the ball through the hoop. This year’s dunkers:
Mac McClung – Orlando Magic (2023 Champion) (-190)
Jaylen Brown – Boston Celtics (+420)
Jacob Toppin – New York Knicks (+600)
Jaime Jacquez Jr – Miami Heat (+650)
The dunk contest jumped the shark years ago – wait, maybe that’s an idea to bring the excitement back – have the players jump over a shark-infested pool of water in order to dunk! Any of the guys in this year’s field are welcome to steal that idea – it’s a guaranteed 10.
Pick: Mac McClung (-190). A chalky pick, but I think G-Leaguer Mac McClung is going to repeat this year as champion. The judges love the little guys when they do fancy dunks. And McClung probably has been gearing up for this night all year.
Additionally, Steph Curry will be having a three-point shootout against WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu. And, yes, you can bet on it. Curry is -230; Ionescu +176. Smart money always goes on Curry in a shooting contest.
If you’d like even more info to help make your NBA bets, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
