There’s only one night during the NBA season that features this kind of star power.

The NBA All-Star Game is an especially fun event given the amount of talent around the league right now. There are players on both Team LeBron and Team Durant who would be starting 10 years ago. Now, we get them all in one game.

Our NBA experts at The Action Network have broken down where they find betting value for this year’s All-Star Game from Atlanta. Here’s what they’re backing:

All-Star Weekend Best Bets: 3-Point Contest | Skills Challenge | Slam Dunk Contest

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NBA All-Star Game Odds & Picks

Brandon Anderson – Zion Williamson MVP (+3300, DraftKings)

A lot of guys don’t want to be here for this All-Star Game, so we could end up with an unexpected mix of minutes and motivation. I expect Zion Williamson to be out there a lot. He’s someone everyone wants to see, and he’s the exact sort of player who racks up numbers in an All-Star Game.

I can’t get David Lee out of my head. I remember Lee racking up easy buckets and rebounds in an All-Star Game out of sheer effort — just a dude trying hard, crashing boards and cutting to the rim like this game actually matters. Can’t you just see Zion grabbing like eight offensive rebounds and getting a bunch of put-back buckets, along with a few memorable highlight-reel dunks that blow the actual dunk contest guys out of the water?

I think Zion gets 20 to 25 points and double-digit boards, and that should put him in the mix for MVP. We’ve had four-straight MVPs be forwards after it had been a guard in seven of eight seasons before that, so the trends point toward another bigger guy who can get easy buckets and rebounds.

The one real hitch in the plan is that Zion is coming off the bench, and that he probably also won’t be on the court for the final minutes and Elam Ending. That definitely makes it a bit harder to pull off, but that’s why we are getting long odds here. I’ll take my chances on Zion putting his stamp on the season and taking over All-Star Weekend with a memorable performance.

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Raheem Palmer – Over 308.5 (-110, William Hill)

Although the Elam ending has added a level of seriousness and competitiveness to a game which had become a joke, that still hasn’t stopped the scoring outbursts we’ve seen from the All-Star Game recently. In the last seven All-Star Games, the total has gone under 308.5 just once, back in 2018 when Team LeBron defeated Team Stephen 148-145.

In a year in which we can expect some apathy due to the pandemic, I’m expecting a high-scoring game with some competitiveness down the stretch.

Looking at last year’s All-Star Game — the first with the Elam ending — we got 94 points in the first quarter, 81 in the second, 82 in the third and 55 points in the fourth. I’ll take the over 308.5 points here and hopefully we can get enough scoring in the first half to create a middle opportunity to take the second half under or a live under when the game slows down in the fourth quarter.

The total has gone up to 309.5 at most books, but you can still get 308.5 at William Hill.

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Matt Moore – Team LeBron -1.5 Q1 (-110, FanDuel), Team Durant Q2 ML (+114, FanDuel)

You know I love some quarter bets.

So LeBron’s starting five makes more sense than Durant’s. The only real problem in it is Luka Doncic is ball-dominant, but his history in Euroleague opens up a chance he just melds into that role. I think we’ll see some LeBron James and Steph Curry highlights in that first quarter, with Nikola Jokic making crazy passes.

But look at that second quarter unit for Durant. You’ve got Zach LaVine, Zion Williamson, Damien Lillard and Julius Randle. All of those guys will play hard, Dame could chase his first All-Star MVP. LeBron’s reserves are all good team players. I expect James to play sparingly after the first quarter to rest, and that opens the door for Team Durant to win that second quarter.

Durant has more shooting, but in the beginning, I like LeBron’s team to out-execute. Given that the first quarter line will likely be a pick’em or Team LeBron by no more than -1.5, I like the value there, and then to go back on Durant in the second-quarter moneyline at plus money.

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Kenny Ducey – Team LeBron Live

I made this mistake last year. I told myself, Team LeBron is so much better than Team Giannis talent-wise. They should mop the floor with these guys. What wound up transpiring, if you don’t remember, is a game that came down to the wire.

The spread was cooked, but once again Team LeBron won. In fact, in all three of the games in the new format, LeBron’s team has emerged victorious by an average margin of 6.3 points, though that’s a bit skewed because of one 14-point win in 2019.

In all three of these games, Team LeBron has trailed at the half and come back to win. Because of this, I’m going to recommend taking Team LeBron live at a PK or better, because it’s inevitable that they will fall behind early.

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