NBA All Star Weekend

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NBA All Star Weekend
Igor Djuricic

Glopinion by

Igor Djuricic

Feb 16, 2018

Who should you back on the 2018 NBA All-Star Saturday Night events? And which underdog shocks the NBA?

NBA All-Star Saturday Night gets underway at 8 p.m. ET from Staples Center in Los Angeles. Tickets are in high demand for the trio of events featuring stars such as Klay Thompson, Victor Oladipo, and hometown favorite Lou Williams.

Before you decide what you're picking, check out what SportsLine's Galin Dragiev has to say. He's the site's No. 1 NBA expert and is on a 27-13 run against the spread. Anyone who has followed his advice is having a very lucrative start to 2018.

Part of his success: Dragiev learned early on to predict the outcome of the game before determining how success trickles down to individual players. When it comes to predictions, he trusts numbers above all else.

Now, he's keyed in on the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, JBL Three-Point Contest, and Verizon Slam Dunk Competition and locked in his picks.

Meet the Dunkers

The four NBA players vying to win the 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest now know who they have to impress.

On Thursday, the league announced the five individuals tasked with judging Saturday's competition at Staples Center.

Basketball royalty and Hall of Famer Julius Erving, three-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie, comedian Chris Rock, actor Mark Wahlberg and music personality and entertainer DJ Khaled make up the panel.

Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell, Dallas Mavericks first-year guard Dennis Smith Jr., Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. will look to soar to new heights and claim the crown during State Farm All-Star Saturday Night.

Below are the eight Three-Point Contest participants:

Klay Thompson
Wayne Ellington
Eric Gordon
Paul George
Bradley Beal
Kyle Lowry
Devin Booker
Tobias Harris

In 2014, Bradley Beal had never competed in an NBA All-Star Weekend three-point contest, so he didn’t know the rules.

He ascended from the group of shooters to represent the Eastern Conference in the finals against Marco Belinelli, then with the San Antonio Spurs and playing for the West. Belinelli went first. Then Beal, alone on the big stage in New Orleans and working his way around the five racks, found his rhythm near the end to tie the score and force overtime. Although viewers at home knew what would happen next — TNT displayed a graphic explaining the next round — Beal had no such prompt and entered sudden death breathless and unaware.

 

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