The rosters for this year’s Mountain Dew Ice Rising Stars Challenge are set. Some of the best young players in the NBA will be featured during the All-Star Break ahead of the main event. Big names like Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Ben Simmons and Luka Doncic are among the players scheduled to compete.
The teams are broken up into those from the United States and those from the rest of the world. The talent looks pretty evenly distributed so this could be a fun matchup. It’s not always easy to peg the winners of events like these because there is not 100 percent effort. If there are certain players that take this game more seriously than some of the others they could help their team come away victorious in NBA gambling.
The Mountain Dew Ice Rising Stars Challenge will be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, February 15th, 2019. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
We'll have NBA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for every game of the 2019 NBA season.
Odds Analysis
The Mountain Dew Ice Rising Stars Challenge features some of the most talented rookies and second-year players in the NBA. The rosters are chosen by assistant coaches in the league.
Team World is led by Simmons and Doncic. Other notables on the team include Suns center DeAndre Ayton, Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen, Clippers rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic. Doncic has the best odds of anyone to win the MVP of this game as he is listed at +380. Simmons is not far behind at +420, and boasting the two players with the best MVP odds should make Team World the favorite to come away with this win.
Team USA has Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell among its most talented players, and he could put up some serious points in this one. Mitchell is listed at +824 to win the MVP. He is joined by talented Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who has MVP odds of +780. Kyle Kuzma is another one of the top players for Team USA, but his Lakers teammate Lonzo Ball won’t play because of a left ankle injury. Hawks sharpshooter Trae Young will play for Team USA and look for him to put up a three-point barrage.
Team World will be coached by Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, while Team USA will have injured Celtics guard Kyrie Irving running the show. There won’t be much actual coaching in this one but it will be fun to see who Nowitzki and Irving have on the floor in crunch time when the competitive juices finally start flowing.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Team World won the Rising Stars Challenge in 2018 by a score of 155-124. Ben Simmons had 13 assists in the game and is back again. He should have a big game, and Doncic is also expected to put on a show. This is the type of game that showcases athletic players and Team World has the better collection of them.
Look for Team World to win this Rising Stars Challenge. Simmons is too pass-happy to win the MVP, but Doncic has a flair for the dramatic and should put up some big numbers. Doncic is the favorite to win MVP for good reason and he is the pick to do so in NBA wagering.
The scoring in this game is always high because little to no defense is ever played. Check to see where the oddsmakers place the total as that will help decide if the “under” or the “over” makes more sense to roll with. The NBA regular season might be on hiatus but there is still plenty of gambling that can be done with the Rising Stars Challenge and the other festivities during All-Star Weekend.
NBA ATS Pick: Team World 151, Team USA 143
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
