If you like points, high flying dunks and a barrage of 3-pointers, then the 2022 NBA All-Star game festivities are your weekend diversion of choice.
All-star weekend tips off at 7 p.m. Saturday with the skills challenge, 3-point contest and the dunk contest. The all-star game starts at 7 p.m. Sunday.
There’s plenty to bet on this weekend, and the 18 authorized sportsbooks in Iowa have you covered with the odds.
NBA All-Star game odds
Top sportsbooks in Iowa favor Team LeBron at , or on the moneyline. The best over/under total for Sunday’s contest is . Team Durant is on the moneyline.
How to watch the NBA all-star game, 3-point and dunk contest
Both Saturday and Sunday’s all-star festivities will air live on TNT. Regular season NBA games resume Thursday.
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Prepare for points in the NBA all-star game
If you love betting the over, the NBA All-Star game is the event for you. The average total for the last 10 all-star games is 323.1 points – slightly higher than 2022’s point total. There have been a few games with fewer than 300 points (293 in 2018, 281 in 2013) and a few shootouts (374 in 2017, 369 in 2016).
Why is Team LeBron favored?
If you’re wondering why Team LeBron is favored by a few baskets over Team Durant and -255 to win straight up, there are a few reasons.
- Durant won’t appear in any all-star weekend festivities as he rehabs a sprained MCL. That’s a tough break for Team Durant, who will be without its best scorer (29.3 points per game on 52% shooting).
- It also appears that Team LeBron has the better all-star squad. Four of the five players in NBA.com’s latest MVP race are on Team LeBron. Team LeBron starters have combined to win eight of the past 10 NBA MVPs.
- LeBron’s starters are James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozen and Nikola Jokic. Team Durant’s starters are Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Andrew Wiggins and Trae Young.
- Another thing to keep in mind if you’re betting Team LeBron moneyline: Team LeBron is 4-0 straight up since the all-star draft method was put in place.
3-point contest odds
As of mid-day Friday, Luke Kennard of the LA Clippers is the odds favorite to win the event (+450 on FanDuel and DraftKings). Patty Mills of the Brooklyn Nets is a co-favorite at FanDuel, also at +450. Mills is +500 at DraftKings.
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The rest of the field with Friday odds includes:
- Fred VanVleet (+500 at FD and DK)
- Trae Young (+550 at both)
- Desmond Bane (+550 at FD, +600 at DK)
- Zach LaVine (+650 FD, +550 DK)
- CJ McCollum (+950 at FD, +750 at DK)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (+1200 at FD, +1100 at DK)
Kennard leads all participants with 43.4% 3-point shooting this season.
Mills is a co-favorite thanks to his 41.4% 3-point clip and 181 makes from deep (fourth in the league this season).
LaVine and Towns (the two participants who play closest to Iowa in Chicago and Minneapolis, respectively) are two candidates to keep an eye on. LaVine has participated in the last three 3-point contests but never made it to the final round. He shoots 39.9% from deep this year.
For Towns, he’s the only “big man” in the competition, but don’t let that fool you. The Timberwolves star has a better 3-point percentage (40.6%) this season than LaVine, VanVleet, Young and McCollum.
NBA slam dunk contest odds
Houston Rocket Jalen Green is the favorite to win the event, coming in with +155 odds at FanDuel and +200 on DraftKings as of Friday. Next is:
- Obi Toppin (+220, +205)
- Cole Anthony (+250, +300)
- Juan Toscano-Anderson (+500, +340)
Toppin has the only NBA dunk contest experience of the bunch. The New York Knicks second-year forward placed second in the 2021 dunk contest.
Green hasn’t enjoyed a great rookie season by any means, but he’s a high-flying 20-year-old oozing with athleticism.
Cole Anthony and Juan Toscano-Anderson are two contestants that (in terms of dunk contest hype) are slightly under the radar. Both players boast dunk contest wins on their resumes, though; Anthony won the City of Palms high school dunk contest in 2018 and Toscano-Anderson won the Mexican Basketball League Dunk Contest in 2017.
Looking at recent history, it’s been split position-wise on winners. Since 2014, point guards have won the event twice, small forwards three times and shooting guards three times.
