NBA All-Star Picks
Written by Greg Waters
Fri, 18 Feb 2011
Category sportsbook
Feedback Rating - no votes
The 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend is jam-packed with wagering opportunities and it begins Friday night with the Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, starring Blake Griffin.
The Los Angeles Clippers dunk-master is favored to win MVP honors at this year's event and online sportsbooks are paying back at +300. Stephen Curry is second at +400 and Wizards rookie John Wall, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 Draft is offered at +800 but this game is in Griffin's house!
Pick: Take Griffin to win MVP
SKILLS:
3-POINT SHOOTING
Boston's Ray Allen (.457) is third in the league for three-point shooting but betting odds rank Allen first overall in this year's competition, right ahead of Miami's James Jones (+200) and Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (+250).
Durant may be All-Star material but he is just 8-for-30 (.267) his last five games from beyond the arc. Besides, Durant tweaked his ankle last weekend and is probably using this All-Star break as an opportunity to rest, not win competitions like this.
Pick: Take Allen (+150)
SLAM-DUNK
We know it's going to be the flashiest, most popular event of the whole weekend and for that fact alone, bettors should make a prediction on who will win this year's Sprite Slam Dunk competition.
Along with Griffin, Saturday's comp will feature Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka, Washington's JaVale McGee and the Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan.
Odds to win the title for this year's dunk contest favor Griffin (-500) in a landslide but remember, it's not just about making the dunk – a guy's gotta have some class and style to go along with his jam.
The dogs are paying back at plus-money and since there is no way we'd suggest laying 5-to-1 odds for anything, our play is on Ibaka (+400). He's the only one that can stand up to Griffin, literally. (They're both 6-10).
Pick: Take Ibaka
GAME TIME
The 60th Annual All-Star Game tips-off at 8 pm ET and although nobody's too concerned with who wins, the list of props is worth a look. From first to dunk, to which player will score the most points, books have got you covered.
Betting on the game's MVP is a wise decision since this is where the superstars get serious. Look at the list of All-Star MVP's since Michael Jordan won it for the last time in 1998:
Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson (twice), Kobe Brant (three times!), Kevin Garnett, Shaq (twice), LeBron James (twice) and last year's winner, Dwyane Wade.
These guys weren't just messing around, and this year we like the King to add another jewel to his crown.
Pick: Take LeBron as MVP (+400)
NBA ALL-STAR FREE CONTEST
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