NBA Picks & Parlay of the Weekend | February 17

It’s the NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis and we’ve got our eyes set on a great FanDuel parlay to make you feel like a star. There are eight players in the Three Point contest, including a pair of defending champions, but we like a player to make history. Everyone is talking about the over/under for the All-Star game, what have we seen in the last few years?

Trae Young (+600) at FanDuel

This is the third time Young has been in the Three Point contest in his NBA career. He didn’t make it out of the first round in 2020, and tied for second in 2022.

Young is a high-volume shooter and scorer with range well beyond the three-point arc. The contest doesn’t perfectly sync up with his skill set, but of all the players competing, he has the chance to get on a tear. No Atlanta Hawks player has ever won this contest before.

The field features defending champ Damian Lillard from the Bucks and 2022 champion Karl-Anthony Towns, who is the only 7-footer to ever win the title. If you do a deep dive on the numbers, Malik Beasley has the best three-point shooting percentage this season of anyone on the list.

Young is the pick. He’s competed in this contest before, and he’s due to get hot at the right time.

West Moneyline (-152) at FanDuel

The NBA scrapped the whole Team Giannis vs. Team LeBron format…thankfully and has brought back the traditional Eastern Conference All-Stars vs. Western Conference All-Stars.

I know the whole fantasy draft thing is kind of fun, but All-Star Games shouldn’t mix up the talent that way. There has to be some identity/pride somewhere, and being on Team LeBron ain’t it. Sorry.

Speaking of talent, the East has Giannis, Lilard, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton playing in front of the home crown in Indiana. But they don’t have Sixers unstoppable big man Joel Embiid.

The West has LeBron, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, plus Devin Booker and Steph Curry coming off the bench.

The Eastern Conference has better teams (Celtics) but the West has better players. This format is for the players. Go West all the way.

Over 364.5 (-115) at FanDuel

This is a crazy popular bet, as the over/under total posted by  Michigan sportsbooks has risen significantly over the last few years. Four of the last five NBA All-Star Games have gone over, and the only time it didn’t in 2022 it missed by a point.

Last year, the two teams combined for 359 points.

We all know there isn’t a lot of defense played in All-Star Games, why? Because that’s not what anyone wants to see. If it’s within 10 points or so in the final four minutes, then you might see some players lock up, but the All-Star Game is about dunks and threes. These are the best players in the world.

This season NBA teams combined are 814-789-12 over/under. Its an over league. Even with a total this high, play the odds and ride the over.