NBA Betting: All-Star Game
Posted on Febuary 12, 2009 | 4:02 PM ET Filed under:The best professional basketball players on earth will gather in Phoenix this weekend for the showcase that is the National Basketball Association's 58th All-Star game (8 pm Eastern Sunday, TNT).
Last year, the Eastern Conference All-Stars beat those of the Western Conference 134-128 in New Orleans. It was the third victory for the East in the last four meetings. Before that, with Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan leading the way, the West won three straight All-Star games.
Shaq left LA, though, for Miami and the East where he helped the Heat to a league title in 2006. But he's now back in the West, and he and Amare Stoudemire will represent the hometown Suns on Sunday.
Cleveland's Mike Brown and the Lakers' Phil Jackson will coach the East and West, respectively, based upon the fact their teams owned the best records in their respective conferences two Sundays ago. For Brown, this is a first-time honor. But Jackson has coached an All-Star team three times. While piloting the Chicago Bulls, Jackson guided the East to a 40-point loss vs. Magic Johnson and the West in 1992, and a 129-118 win in 1996. Four years later, as coach of the Lakers, Jackson led the West to a 137-126 victory over the East.
Oddsmaker.com will put out a line and total on the All-Star game sometime Friday. But Oddsmaker is already offering prices on who will be named MVP of Sunday's game. Cleveland's LeBron James and the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, as you might expect, top the board at Oddsmaker.com, both listed at +300 to win the MVP award.
Miami's Dwyane Wade and Orlando's Dwight Howard are listed at +400, followed by Chris Paul of the Hornets at +500, the Suns' Amare Stoudemire at +600, Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas at +800, and Portland's Brandon Roy at +1,000, among others.
The weekend's festivities begin Friday, with the 10th playing of the rookies vs. sophomores game. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Atlanta's Al Horford, among others, will shoot for a seventh straight victory by the sophs against a freshman team featuring Portland's Greg Oden, Miami's Michael Beasley and Chicago's Derrick Rose.
The fun continues Saturday with the skills contests, and Oddsmaker.com is offering action on at least a couple of the events.
Two-time defending champion Jason Kapono of Toronto is a +200 favorite at Oddsmaker.com to win Saturday's 3-point shooting competition. He's followed on the 3-point shootout betting board by Atlanta's Mike Bibby at +300, Indiana's Danny Granger and Orlando's Rashard Lewis at +350, and Miami's Daequan Cook and San Antonio's Roger Mason at +500.
In the slam dunk contest, Orlando's Dwight Howard is a solid -180 favorite at Oddsmaker.com. He's followed on the dunk board by Denver's JR Smith at +300, New York's Nate Robinson at +350, and Portland's Rudy Fernandez at +500.
The last nine NBA All-Star games, which include a 155-145 West win in double-overtime in 2003, have averaged 259 total points.
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