It is Team Steph vs. Team Lebron on Sunday. SBNation.com
NBA all-star weekend; a display of the league’s most exceptional talent presented through various contesst. The stars of the hardwood are put in front of the world to show off the best of their abilities, and it's a weekend to relax and make some recreational bets. A time to sit back with friends and.....
Wait a minute, who are we kidding? Every year when events like this come around, gamblers print tickets at a frantic pace in the hope of guessing who are going to be this year's champions. The odds on some of the contestants are very attractive, and the fact that this is an all stat competition leads us to believe it truly is anyone's game to win. Let's get into some of the numbers and see where we can get the best value.
3-point contest
Klay Thompson +220
Eric Gordon (+425)
Wayne Ellington (+600)
Devin Booker (+600)
Paul George (+625)
Bradley Beal (+770)
Kyle Lowry (+1000)
Tobias Harris (+1100)
The 2016 Champion Klay Thompson headlines this year's contest. He leads the field as the favorite and pays +220 ($100 pays $220). The defending champion and Houston favorite Eric Gordon is the second favorite (+425), followed by Ellington, Booker, George and Beal in the middle tier. Rounding out the group and paying the most are Lowry and Harris. A $100 wager on former Houston guard Kyle Lowry would pay you $1000!!!
Most points in a round: Klay Thompson is tied for the record (Stephen Curry) scoring 27 out of 34 total points in his 2016 final round.
Throwback: In 1986, the NBA added the 3-point contest and former NBA all-star game MVP Larry Bird was the favorite.
The Boston legend walked into the locker room before the shootout and asked. "Which one of you guys is going to finish second?" He would go on to raise the first 3-point trophy beating out Craig Hodges. That year Hodges scored 25 points in the first round, a record that wouldn't be broken until 2016.
Players with multiple wins:
Craig Hodges 1st-3 times 2nd- 2 times
Larry Bird 1st- 3 times
Peja Stojakovic 1st- 2 times 2nd- 2 times
Jeff Hornacek 1st- 2 times
Mark Price 1st- 2 times
Jason Kapono 1st- 2 times
Dunk contest
Dennis Smith Jr. +165
Donovan Mitchell +225
Larry Nance, Jr. +275
Victor Oladipo +460
In a chance to defy physics, the high flyers of the league take the main stage to cap the night off. This year’s event features two rookies in Dennis Smith Jr. and Donovan Mitchell. The favorite, Smith, is a 6'2 point guard out of North Carolina State that jumps out of the arena everytime he leaves his feet. The other rookie Mitchell is filling in for the injured Aaron Gordon. Utah's newcomer is said to be leading the rookie of the year race so look for the 21-year-old to make noise on Saturday with his Thunderous dunks. The son of a former champion in this competition, Larry Nance Jr., attempts to enact what his father did in 1984. That year his father embraced the role of the underdog beating out basketball legends Julius Erving and Dominique Wilkins. This year's largest payout lies with underdog Victor Oladipo. A $100 wager on Indiana's All-star will pay you $460. There might be value in that number considering this isn't his first appearance in the contest. In 2015, Oladipo lost to Zach LaVine in the championship round.
Throwback: Nate Robinson is the only 3-time winner of this event, but not without controversy. In his first title, many fans feel he has gifted the trophy. He edged out Andre Iguodala by one point but needed 14 attempts to complete one of his dunks. That year featured the first-ever tiebreaker as both scored 94 points in the final round. Needless to say, the rule was changed in 2007 allowing contestants only 2 minutes to complete their dunks and solely two chances outside of that time frame. His 14 attempts on a dunk with no penalty left 76'er fans with a foul taste for the contest.
2018 NBA All-Star game
Team LeBron -3.5 -120
Team Steph +3.5 -120
OVER 346 -120
UNDER 346 -120
The last two years games have seen totals of 374 and 369. Before that, no game had ever crossed this year’s 346 total. Even in 2003 when the game went into double overtime, the final score was 155-145.
There might be value in going with the under for the game as the new draft format might give players extra motivation on defense. I don't advise betting under on an All-Star game and watching; could take years off your life.
Any questions or comments reach me at @JerryboKnowz on twitter.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.