All Star Game 2016 – The Toronto All-Stars

Are the West too strong?

Bryant, Curry, Westbrook, Durant, Leonard : The starting line-up for the West is incredible. And the bench is equally as good (Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, James Harden, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Paul, LaMarcus Aldridge). The first two cities form a magicial trio with Stephen Curry from the Warriors, while all the others, except for Aldridge, are the most influential players from their franchises. Pure quality!

If the starting line-up has a strong look to it (James, Wade, Anthony, George, Lowry), the East will arrive at Toronto will less strenght in depth on the bench (Bosh, Wall, Millsap, Drummond, P.Gasol, DeRozan, Isiah Thomas), it can hardly be compared.

Odds for the All Star Game 2016

Anything can happen in the All Star Game, but the Western conference squad have a way superior side and the odds reflects that. After dominating last years event at Madison Square Garden where they came to grips with the East in the highest scoing game in history (163 - 158), the Western conference, who have won 4 out of the last 5 All Star Games, are the favourites again.

West:

East:

The Teams

West

• Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers)
• Stephen Curry (GS Warriors)
• Russell Westbrook (OKC Thunder)
• Kevin Durant (OKC Thunder)
• Kawhi Leonard (SA Spurs)

Bench : Draymond Green (GSW) ; Klay Thompson (GSW) ; Anthony Davis (Pelicans) ; James Harden (Rockets) ; DeMarcus Cousins (Kings) ; Chris Paul (Clippers) ; LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs).

East

• Lebron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
• Paul George (Indiana Pacers)
• Kyle Lowry (Toronto)
• Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)

Bench : Chris Bosh (Heat) ; John Wall (Wizards) ; Paul Millsap (Hawks) ; Andre Drummond (Pistons) ; Pau Gasol (Bulls) ; DeMar DeRozan (Raptors) ; Isiah Thomas (Celtics).

Who will be MVP?

This is the explosive Russel Westbrook who lit up Madison in 2015. The scorer of 41 points, he was offered the MVP title from the bench, infront of favourites Curry and Durant. "Russ" will this time be one of the starting 5 and they will be relying on him to take most of the shots! Our preference is Kevin Durant. Already named MVP in 2012, the Thunder’s winger averages 26 points over 6 All Star matches but he could be closer to the 40 point mark this time if he goes for it more himself. And in the West, we do not see any player racking up a massive tally, except for Kobe. We would recommend betting on Durant getting the MVP for the All Star Game.

Odds for MVP

• Curry:
• Durant:
• Westbrook:
• James:
• Harden:
• Bryant:
• George:
• Thompson:

All the odds available on Bet365

Without surprise, the players from the West coast are the most likely to win the MVP title. For the East is it usually between James and Harden.

Thank you Kobe

This All Star game held on Canadian soil will be the 18th and last for Kobe Bryant.He is yet to fall below 34% shooting rate for the Lakers. Black Mamba, who is playing his last season in the NBA, will be one of the stars of the weekend. Fans have already welcomed the legend by making him the top ranking star with 1,900,000 votes, slightly aheady of 2015 MVP Stephen Curry (1.6M).

For his last All Star Game in 2003, Michael Jordan thought he had scored the decisive basket to give the East a two point victory in the final 5 seconds, only for Kobe to benefit from a mistake and win the game for the West. If Kobe doesn’t win MVP, he will play as a legend of the Bulls and will go down as a great role model in the sport. And we wish him a hero’s send off...

A Crazy Saturday!

With the All Star Game been held on Sunday night and leading into Monday, a number of fans with be excited for what happends on Saturday, which crowns the best point guard in the "Skills Challenge", but also the best shooter in the 3 point challenge before finishing up with the Dunk Contest.

3 point contest : A duel between Curry and Thompson?

In 2015, Curry had crushed the competition in the the previous 3 point competition, even surpassing the all time record of 27 points and a series of 13 consecutive baskets. Easy for some!

With a 43% success rate in long distance shooting this season, Klay Thompson seems like the only one to deprive Curry of winning "back to back" titles since Jason Kapono achieved it in 2007 and 2008. If they take pleasure in humiliating everyone this season with the warriors, the "Splash Brothers", are the bookmakers favourites they will want to show off their skills at the Air Canada center. Redick and Lowry , who run at 40.9% and 39.7% behind the line, are able to stop the two time NBA Champions from reaching the final. James Harden (Rockets), Chris Bosh (Heat), Khris Middleton (Bucks) and rookie Sun’s Devin Booker will need to play the games of their lives to lift the trophy.

Our tips

Curry is very strong. With a 45.3% success rate from over 500 shots this season, the MVP’s current form would suggest he will score higher than his 27 points last year, as he continues to do no wrong. Redick has a conversion rate of 48%, but has taken less than half of the shots. Also his total career precentage does not exceed 41%.

Bet on Stephen Curry scoring 3 pointers at .

Dunk Contest : LaVine going higher?

Zach Lavine (Wolves) hopes to defend the title he won last time out at Madison Square Gardens, which showed a timeless final dunk. Although he only reached 1m96, the man from Seattle made fun of everyone who preceded him before he violently slammed down his winner. It has to been seem to be believed.

Our tip

We wish good luck to Will Barton, Aaron Godon and Andre Drummond. None of these three seem to have the quality to deprive the younger leader from the Wolves for the title (12.9 points per match).

LaVine to win the Dunk Contest, is