The Super Bowl has come and gone, so it’s time for the NBA’s best athletes to show off their skills at the NBA All-Star weekend!
All-Star weekend heads to Cleveland, Ohio and the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is set to host one fun-filled weekend of hoops!
The Rising Stars challenge gets things going on Saturday, and under a new format, 4 teams with Rosters of 7 players will play off for bragging rights with their younger peers!
Aussie fans will be keen to keep an eye on “Team Worthy” and our Rookie Star Josh Giddey, as he teams up with No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green.
Giddey isn’t our only Aussie being represented on Saturday, with G-League stand out Dyson Daniels looking to improve his draft stock heading into the 2022 NBA Draft.
Under the new format, the first two games will be played to a target score of 50 points to make the final, with the final being played to a target score of 25 (to celebrate the league’s 75th anniversary).
In predicting a winner for the event, we will go with Team Barry, headlined by Cade Cunningham and Cleveland standout Rookie Evan Mobley!
The Skills Challenge kicks things off in an action-packed All-Star Sunday, and once again we have our eyes on Josh Giddey in this one.
3 teams of 3 players will join up to earn the Skills Challenge gong.
Giddey teams up with Scottie Barnes and Cade Cunningham to form “Team Rooks”.
Darius Garland headlines “Team Cavs” with fellow All-Star Jarrett Allen and Rookie of the Year favourite Evan Mobley.
Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the way for “Team Antetokounmpo” with his brothers Thanasis and Alex joining him!
Given the Skills Challenge is fairly ball-dominant, “Team Rooks” get the chocolates here!
The 3-Point Contest comes up next, and even though it’s in the middle of the Skills and Dunk Comp, there’s no doubting this is always the main event of All-Star Sunday.
Patty Mills will be flying the Aussie flag in this one and is joined with some fellow sharpshooters in Desmond Bane, Luke Kennard, Zach LaVine, CJ McCollum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Fred VanVleet and Trae Young.
Patty has had a career year shooting the 3 ball this season, and has truly flourished in his advanced role with the Nets.
He’s averaged a little over 3 makes a game at above the 40% mark on the season, and comes into this contest as one of the favourites to win the event.
Trae Young will enter the contest as the favourite, but in a field that’s this red hot, it’s sure to be a tight one.
Patty to edge out Trae Young in the final!
In the final event of the night, the Slam Dunk Contest features a few rising stars in the league.
Jalen Green headlines the field of Obi Toppin, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Cole Anthony.
Obi Toppin was the pick in last year’s Dunk Contest and we are sticking with the Knicks high flyer, as he’s sure to have a few more tricks up his sleeve in year 2!
After all the fun of the weekend, we’ve entered the main game, as Team LeBron faces off against Team Durant.
It’s hard to go past the starting line-up LeBron went with, featuring Giannis, Steph Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Jokic and himself.
Yikes!
It’s a shame we don’t get to see Durant in this one, but his replacement in the starting line-up, Jayson Tatum, has been on another level coming into this game.
Tatum and the Celtics have been rolling coming into the All-Star break, and he starts alongside Trae Young, Andrew Wiggins, Ja Morant and Joel Embiid.
It’s hard to see Team LeBron getting beat, but Team Durant may make things interesting, with a few guys having chips on their shoulders for not originally being starters (or being on the original roster themselves).
Given the game is in Cleveland, there would be little shocks if LeBron wants to come home with the All-Star game MVP!
Enjoy the weekend!
Bauky