NBA Betting – East vs West All-Star Preview
Lets start by taking a look at the East starters: Kyrie Irving, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference
Sunday February 16
Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
6:05PM
Moneyline: West -240, East +260
Spread: Western Conference -4
O/U: 292 at Bovada
Matchup | Preview
Eastern Conference
This group is full of elite scorers but the glaring weakness is who is going to rebound the ball and defend the rim.
I know this is an All-Star contest and defense is the last consideration but when this lineup is on the floor the East is going to have to play at an even faster tempo.
As a balance to their starters the East loaded up on size with Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah and Chris Bosh. I don’t know how you can select Noah for a game like this but what’s done is done.
No matter what the East was going to do they were going to be the underdogs and I think their backcourt reserves John Wall and DeMar DeRozen, both first year selections will be exciting players who we will see in a lot more games.
The better teams are in West but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is accurate that they should be the favourite in a game like this.
When it comes to All-Star games I almost always bet the underdog because that is where the real value is. Especially in the NBA where all it takes is one hot player to make the difference…like LeBron or Melo.
Western Conference
The Western Conference catches a break in that Kobe Bryant who was voted in is injured and won’t play.
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I am not sure who will take his spot in the starting lineup but the other starters will be Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. Their mix is more like a real team with designated ball handlers and scorers who have complementary skills, lets just see how that works out.
Due to Bryant’s injury the West was able to add Anthony Davis to their much more experienced roster.
What stands out about their bench is pairs of teammates from the Houston Rockets – Dwight Howard and James Harden – and the Portland Trailblazers – LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard.
My guess is that Harden, who is the most natural replacement for Bryant will get the start.
For the West to win they are going to have to employ some real strategy and by that I mean intentionally try and take advantage of their quality big men.
Coach Scott Brooks is probably not going to be able to make that happen making the West ripe for an upset regardless of general strengths.
Spread Pick: East +4
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: East 131 – West 129
It’s NBA Basketball betting season once again. NBA Gambling fans sure are getting their money’s worth from the free nba picks we give out here at Capperspicks.com.
