NBA Picks & Parlay of the Weekend | February 18

The NBA is taking a few days off from its normal schedule for All-Star Weekend. The highlight, of course, is Sunday’s All-Star Game between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. We figured what better way to enjoy the All-Star Game than with a same-game parlay? For a special occasion, we put together a special same-game parlay on FanDuel for Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game.

Western Conference ML | -148 at FanDuel

With such a small spread, we’ll just take the moneyline in a glorified exhibition game. Also, we’re definitely backing the Western Conference to win this game. This is the first West-East battle in an all-star game since 2017. Before the format change, the Western Conference had won three in a row and six of the last seven all-star contests. There is no reason to shy away from following that trend.

The Western Conference remains the better conference, even if the East has made some gains in recent years. More importantly, the Eastern Conference has been weakened by injuries to Joel Embiid and Julius Randle. Those injuries have significantly hindered the East’s inside presence, which is largely limited to Bam Adebayo. Meanwhile, the West has the likes of Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Anthony Davis playing close to the basket. It’s not as if the East has a clear edge in the backcourt either, which is why we’re happy to back the Western Conference to win the All-Star Game.

Luka Doncic Over 11.5 Points | +100 at FanDuel

Player prop bets in an all-star game can be a little tricky. Obviously, more points will be scored in the All-Star Game than the average game. But those points will also be a little more evenly distributed throughout the entire roster, not just four or five players. Nevertheless, Doncic should be able to score at least a dozen points on Sunday.

While he’s averaging just seven points per game in his previous all-star appearances, Doncic is in the starting lineup and is the West’s most experienced guard outside of Steph Curry with regard to all-star appearances. He’ll have the ball in his hands a lot and could be a little more selfish than he is during the regular season and be more willing to take advantage of opportunities to score.

Nikola Jokic Over 8.5 Pointss | -111 at FanDuel

There are a few reasons why Jokic’s over/under of 8.5 points is so low. For starters, all-star games tend to have high tempos, so there isn’t a lot of posting up by big men. Plus, Jokic is averaging just 6.2 points per game in his previous five all-star appearances. 

On the other hand, scoring nine points isn’t unreasonable for someone who averages 6.2 points. Also, as mentioned, the Eastern Conference is light on big men with Embiid and Randle hurt. They may not have someone who can handle Jokic on the few occasions he gets a post touch or who can prevent him from getting easy put-backs on offensive rebounds. Plus, Jokic is able to score in other ways, which is why we think he’ll easily surpass 8.5 points in the All-Star Game.