Predictions: Awards & Contest Winners
Rising Stars Challenge: Team Shaq
Shaq's team is a little heavy on point guards but he's also got some shooters and the only bonafide established All-Star in Blake Griffin. I know a lot of people despair at the lack of defense in this game and the lopsided scores but we might get a competitive one this year. If nothing else, we've got some really good young point guards to throw lobs to Griffin, so there should be some must-see highlights if nothing else.
Shooting Stars: Team New York
Far from my favourite event and a tough one to pick; usually every team has a couple of good shooters past or present but so many teams get caught up on that midcourt shot and then the rest of their round is for naught. I'm basically picking New York at random here.
Skills Challenge: Deron Williams
Curry was my original pick but since he's out, I'll go with Deron Williams.
Three Point Shootout: James Jones
I'm going with another repeat winner. I feel it's a toss up between him and Anthony Morrow. Love and Anderson could be dark horse winners, but I have a feeling their contest performance won't match their in-game proficiency. A pretty good field all around but shooting wide open threes is what Jones does and 50 of his 62 field goal attempts thus far this season have been from three point range. Like Craig Hodges, this is simply his event.
Dunk Contest: Jeremy Evans
Great athleticism and has shown a bit of flair. He's the replacement but I also think he's going to end up the winner as well. Without a big "name" in the contest, there's no real bias in the fan voting so I think whoever puts on the best show will get the votes and I'm picking Evans to do just that.
All-Star Game: West wins, Kevin Durant is MVP
Glancing at the rosters, it looks like the West will control the paint and ultimately get the win. They've got Chris Paul there to run the team and find all the scorers where they need the ball and I'm guessing Durant will be the recipient of a lot of those passes, scoring around 30 and taking home MVP honours. I'm guessing the East will be looking for Howard a lot and if they win he'll probably end up with the MVP hardware, but I'll stick with the West and Durant.
Miscellaneous Predictions
- The Celebrity Game will certainly have its ugly moments, but I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Penny Hardaway back in action. I'm hoping that even at his age and after all his injuries, he's still got a little something left in the tank to have a few entertaining moments in a game like this.
- Luol Deng will be one of the first players of the bench for the East and end playing around 24 minutes at least...unless Thibbs decides to be "kind" and gives the Heat's trio a lot of minutes. Something to think about, Thibbs...
- Griffin will have at least five dunks in the game, most likely somewhere between five and ten.
- On a not uncompletely related note, Paul is going to get double digit assists on the night.
- The amount of times Dwight Howard is asked about his trade demands or the situation is brought up by the commentators will make for a potentially lethal drinking game.
- Chase Budinger brings out the real Yao to try and dunk over him.
