NBA Betting Props – Here’s a Great Pick For the Three-Point Shootout

Sports handicappers may not remember Craig Hodges too well, and in fact may not have ever heard of him. But he was a part of two championship teams with the Chicago Bulls and a three-time NBA leader in three-point shooting percentage.

He also won the league’s “Three-Point Shootout” that was held at the All-Star break. Not once. Not twice. But three times. And that has him tied with Larry Bird for the most titles in the history of the event. On top of that, he is also tied for the most second-place finishes (2).

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He even participated when he was not on anybody’s roster, but even though he didn’t have a job, the NBA felt compelled to bring him back in 1993, because he was the defending champion.

Hodges holds the record for the most consecutive shots made in this contest, with 19 in 1991. No one has ever come close to that.

So will anyone catch fire on Sunday, when the Three-Point Shootout takes place again in Atlanta, prior to the All-Star Game?

Here are the odds on that, as posted at America’s Bookie:

Steph Curry, Golden State +135

Zach LaVine, Chicago +300

Donovan Mitchell, Utah +450

Jaylen Brown, Boston +700

Jayson Tatum, Boston +700

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What we’re looking to do is beat Steph Curry. And you know, that is altogether possible.

We concede that Curry is leading the NBA in three-pointers attempted and made. But he does not lead the league in three-point percentage. In fact, he’s a little down the list. Don’t get us wrong; he’s not bad, hitting at a 41.1% clip.

But there are guys who have had a better season from that standpoint. They’re just not on hand, for the most part.

It would have been great if he got some competition from Joe Harris, who has made 50.6% of his attempts and won this event two years ago. Joe Ingles, Utah’s Australian sharpshooter, is at 46.5%. You know what? Steph isn’t even the highest-percentage shooter in his own family. Brother Seth, who plays for his father-in-law Doc Rivers, is 44.8% accurate.

None of those guys are in this thing. Neither are players who are at the All-Star Game, like Paul George, Kyrie Irving (the 2013 winner) and Nikola Jokic, all of whom are hitting their triples with a higher success rate than Steph.

Donovan Mitchell is an All-Star, and he is participating, but he’ll have to get hotter than he usually is to come away with a win in this contest. Jayson Tatum is at 36.8%. Is he even a contender here?

Zach LaVine is one of the league’s top scorers, and earned his first All-Star selection this season, partially on the basis of his three-point production for the Bulls. He is fifth in the NBA with 120 triples, and he is very formidable in terms of his consistency, at 43.5%.

If there is some “value” in this field, we think it’s going to come from him.

We should make note of something else. Devin Booker was originally entered into this contest, and had been named to the Western Conference All-Stars as an injury replacement for Anthony Davis. He could have been a real threat here, as he won the contest in 2018. But then Booker backed out of everything with a knee sprain, and Mike Conley, Utah’s point guard who hadn’t made an All-Star team in thirteen previous season, was named to replace him.

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Reportedly Conley was slated to replace Booker in the three-point competition as well, although as of this writing we haven’t seen a number on him. He is 42.2% from downtown as of this All-Star break, and that makes him another guy with a higher percentage than Steph Curry.

Of course, we understand that the two-time MVP has all the ability in the world to rise to the occasion. But at these odds we’re not investing.

Mitchell and LaVine are attempting to pull off an interesting feat. They have both been previous winners of the Slam Dunk Contest, the other marquee side event during the All-Star weekend. In fact, LaVine has won that twice. He’ll add some hardware here.

The Pick: ZACH LaVINE +300