The All-Star festivities will heat up on Saturday with a variety of events, including the NBA Skills Challenge. While the dunk contest and the three-point shootout are the more visible contests, the Skills Challenge is also an interesting competition to watch as it combines several different abilities into one event.
Kristaps Porzingis is the defending champion of the event and he was scheduled to return to defend his crown, but he tore his ACL recently and will be out for the rest of the season, which knocks him from this event.
That means a new champion will be crowned, with a group of big men participating against their guard brethren in this intriguing event during All-Star weekend.
The 2018 NBA Rising Stars Challenge will go down Saturday, February 17, 2018, at 8 p.m. ET at the Staples Center. The game will be televised live on TNT.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Saturday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Big men have won this competition each of the past two years, with Karl Anthony Towns securing it in 2016 followed by Porzingis last year. But the oddsmakers unsurprisingly have chosen a guard as the favorite, with Lou Williams given +350 odds to come away as the victor.
The event combines ball-handling, passing and shooting ability, and Williams has a nice ability to do all of those, especially the shooting aspect. The catch is that all of the guards have to battle against each other to make it to the finals.
Participant Breakdown
Williams is the favorite, while Jamal Murray is another one of the front-runners with +400 odds to come away as the winner. He is followed by Al Horford, who has the best odds among the big men at +500. The player with the next-best odds is Spencer Dinwiddie at +550, followed by Joel Embiid at +600, Buddy Hield at +600, Lauri Markkanen at +700 and Andre Drummond at +900.
Drummond has the longest odds because this does not seem to be a competition he would excel at. While the Pistons center is a menace down low defensively, he is not known for his shooting or ball-handling. It would be an extreme upset if Drummond came away with this win.
Player To Watch
Markkanen -- The Bulls’ rookie is an intriguing pick because the oddsmakers have made him a significant underdog. One big man is going to make it to the finals, and while Horford is the favorite, Markkanen seems to have a decent shot.
He is a skilled athlete with a nice touch from the outside. While the guard he ends up against would undoubtedly be favored to come away with the victory, it only takes one sweet shot to change the results.
Markkanen is definitely the best value of the players in the field.
Free NBA ATS Picks
While Markkanen has nice odds, the choice is for a guard to finally win the Skills Challenge in 2018. Even though Williams is the favorite, Murray is the pick. The Nuggets guard has a good combination of guard handles and distribution skills, as well as a solid jumpshot.
Look for Markkanen to compete against him in the finals but to come up short.
NBA Odds: Jamal Murray To Win Skills Challenge
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