2022 NBA All-Star Odds: Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest Predictions
The biggest and best stars of the NBA are in Cleveland this weekend for the 2022 NBA All-Star Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday night. It’s the third time All-Star Weekend is in Cleveland and first since 1997. We’re breaking down all of Saturday night’s main events.
Make sure to check out updated odds for the full list of All-Star events and the All-Star Game.
NBA All-Star Skills Challenge
The Skills Challenge is getting a facelift with a new format this year. Three teams of three players will compete in a four-round competition that tests shooting, passing and dribbling ability.
Toronto’s Scottie Barnes will lead a team of rookies that also includes Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Australian Josh Giddey from OKC. Jarret Allen, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley will rep host city Cleveland, while the Antetokounmpo brothers, Giannis, Thanasis and Alex, will be the final team. Giannis and Thanasis play together in Milwaukee, while Alex is actually part of the Toronto organization with Raptors 905.
You’ve got to give the NBA credit, it’s a pretty unique formula for the Skills Challenge this year and it should provide a lot of entertainment. While I’d love to see Scottie Barnes do the Raptors proud and lead the rooks to a win, I don’t see it happening with their inexperience. Team Antetokounmpo has one of the top basketball players on the planet, but the problem is they also have two…not so good players, to be polite. I’m going with the three guys who play together every night and have a little chip on their shoulder playing in their own building.
Prediction: Team Cavs +200
NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest
The 3-Point Contest is quickly rivalling the Dunk Contest for the most anticipated event of All-Star Weekend. Since the emergence of the Splash Brothers in Golden State, shooting the long ball has become crucial to winning and every team seems to have at least a couple of players who can hit a dagger from deep.
After the initial round of sharpshooting, the top three players will advance to the finals. Trae Young and Toronto’s Fred VanVleet are the favourites to win at +400 each and I see both of them making it to the final round. For me, it’s a tossup between Patty Mills and Desmond Bane for the third spot, but Bane seems to have a chip on his shoulder and something to prove, so that’s who I’m banking on being there at the end with VanVleet and Young.
If you haven’t been paying attention to the Raptors or VanVleet this season, get with the program. The undrafted VanVleet has established himself as a star in his own right. Only Steph Curry averages more than VanVleet’s 4.0 three’s per game and he’s shooting 40.1 per cent from beyond the arc. When it comes to catch-and-shoot success, VanVleet is hitting 47.4 per cent of his shots from beyond the arc, the highest percentage of anyone averaging four attempts per game. Bet against VanVleet at your own peril.
Prediction: Fred VanVleet +400
NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest
It’s safe to say there is no more hyped event in any of the Big Four North American sports All-Star events than the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest. This year’s event lacks a major superstar, but let’s hope that leads to a lot more creativity as a first-time winner will be crowned. Jalen Green, Cole Anthony and Juan Toscano-Anderson are making their event debuts, while Obi Toppin was last year’s runner-up.
Five judges will score every dunk on a scale of 6 to 10, with a maximum possible score of 50 and a low of 30. Each player gets two dunks in the first round. The two players with the highest combined score move to the final round where they will each get another two dunks. The player with the highest combined score in the final round will be the winner.
This feels like a Green vs. Anthony final. Toppin had a good showing last year and Toscano-Anderson is a great story after not making it to the NBA until he was 26, but the bounce of Green and Anthony is just too much for Toppin or Toscano-Anderson to overcome.
The Dunk Contest is a coming out moment for Green. The No. 2 pick in last year’s draft has been stuck on a brutal Houston team, but I expect to see him rise to the occasion when he finally gets the spotlight he deserves. Green’s bounce around the rim has been compared to Kobe Bryant and I have a feeling his creativity will be a must-watch this weekend.
Prediction: Jalen Green +150