2019 NBA All-Star Game Odds & Betting Preview

The 2019 NBA All-Star Game will take place at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center on Sunday, February 17th. This year the team captains are LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, as the matchup features the sides that the captains pick instead of featuring the stars from each conference against each other. One thing that we can expect is a dearth of defense and lots of points on the night. Who should win this game? Check out our NBA betting preview.

2019 NBA All-Star Game Odds & Betting Preview

When: Sunday, Feb. 17 at 8:00pm ET Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC TV: TNT Radio: ESPN 1320 Live Stream: NBA League Pass 2019 NBA All Star Odds: Team LeBron -6

Rosters

Team LeBron 

• LeBron James
• Kevin Durant
• Kyrie Irving
• Kawhi Leonard
• James Harden

Bench:

• LaMarcus Aldridge
• Bradley Beal
• Anthony Davis
• Damian Lillard
• Ben Simmons
• Klay Thompson
• Karl-Anthony Towns
• Dwyane Wade*

Team Giannis

• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Stephen Curry
• Joel Embiid
• Paul George
• Kemba Walker

Bench:

• Russell Westbrook
• Kyle Lowry
• Victor Oladipo
• Khris Middleton
• Blake Griffin
• Nikola Vucevic
• Nikola Jokic
• Dirk Nowitzki*
• D’Angelo Russell**

*Commissioner’s special pick **injury replacement for Victor Oladipo

Why should you bet on Team LeBron?

James Harden has a 30-game streak of scoring 30 points in a row. It’s hard to argue against a player of that offensive caliber playing on the losing side. But how hard will Kyrie Irving push it coming back from injury? In Anthony Davis, Team LeBron has one of the best centers in the game, and then Karl-Anthony Towns can score both inside and out. And Russell Westbrook? He just set the NBA record for consecutive triple-doubles with 10, breaking a record that had stood for 51 years since Wilt Chamberlain put up nine straight in 1968. Damian Lillard can be streaky but overall is one of the great scorers when it comes to putting up numbers in bunches. And when you finish talking about them, you still have Kawhi Leonard, who can score in a hurry, and LaMarcus Aldridge, who may be even craftier in the paint than Davis. So it’s hard to find a weak link on Team LeBron — even the commissioner’s special addition, Dirk Nowitzki, can spot up from three-point land and make opponents pay, and he still has that patented fadeaway. So if you like Team LeBron, you like the mental toughness that so many of these players bring to the table.

Why should you put your money on Team Giannis?

While Team LeBron has the proven players, Team Giannis has the higher ceiling. Who will end up doing more in this game, LaMarcus Aldridge or Joel Embiid? It’s hard to say that we’ve seen the best of Embiid yet — but he is also one of the more mercurial players in the league, as we saw when he went off on a rant about poor officiating after Al Horford shut him down the other night. Giannis himself has put up scoring performances for the ages and finishes plays that look otherworldly, but then he can sink into a slump himself. Players like Kemba Walker, who put up crazy stats one night and then look ordinary the next, and Kyle Lowry, who is still trying to establish himself as an elite point guard despite terrific talent, all come in with something to prove. Stephen Curry may be the steadiest hand on this team, but he also offers that wild card potential to dribble two or three steps over the halfcourt line and pull up to drain a crazy-long three. The bench gets thinner for Team Giannis, though, as Blake Griffin and Bradley Beal are less likely to put up huge nights than their LeBron counterparts. Losing Victor Oladipo and replacing him with D’Angelo Russell is a major step back, although Team Giannis has the more athletic of the two special commissioner’s picks with Dwyane Wade.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction for the 2019 NBA All-Star Game

I’m going with the proven names in this game rather than the high-ceiling team just because the proven names tend to win, time and time again. Give me Team LeBron, 171-168.