NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest Betting Picks - Feb 18, 2023

With a continuously evolving NBA All-Star Weekend - including this year where the All-Star Game itself won't draft the teams until 30 minutes before - betting the weekend is harder than ever. Luckily for bettors, one event that has maintained its usual structure for the weekend, which will this year be held in Salt Lake City, is the 3-point contest. For those of you fiends, looking to sprinkle some wagers on the long-range shootout, we've dived into the markets to find the value with our 3-point contest picks.

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Free NBA All-Star Picks For Saturday February 18, 2023

3-Point Contest, 9:30PM ET

Betting Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Out of this year's entrants, only one is a former 3-point contest champion: Buddy Hield in 2020. The King-turned-Pacer takes top billing with the sportsbooks as favorite to take the trophy home a second time, and he also comes into the event as the 3P% leader of all active entrants with a 42.6% hit rate this season.

Hield has been able to maintain that high 3-point percentage throughout the year and enters Saturday night in good form, almost mirroring his season mark in February, cashing on 42.9% of his shots this month. That's in contrast to the other contenders, with all of Damian Lillard (37.6% from three in February), Jayson Tatum (40.6%), Lauri Makkanen (30.0%), Kevin Huerter (28.6%), Tyrese Haliburton (40.0%) and Tyler Herro (34.1%) trailing behind.

Does that matter? Last year's winner, Karl-Anthony Towns, entered the 2022 contest with a 38.8% 3-point percentage through the month of February. That was third-best of all entrants 12 months ago, with the two that were higher than him - Luke Kennard and Trae Young - making it to the final where KAT dominated. So yes, recent and consistent game form does appear to matter. Advantage to Hield, Haliburton and Tatum.

Something else to consider: which players will care the most? Hield has the potential of becoming a two-time champion, so you can count on him caring. Damian Lillard always has that dawg in him - let's mark him down as a care as well. 

This might feel like a bit of a crap shoot, but there are some parameters that can come in useful when trying to find the winner of the 3-point contest. With all entrants entering the tournament at some juicy plus money odds, the best strategy for bettors would be to place a couple of bets on the guys you think are going to do well.

What do we think? Well, consistent scoring form matters, and so does the will to come into the contest with the mindset that you want to take it just a little more seriously than the rest of the field. That's how we're going to bet it, anyway.

BEST BET: Buddy Hield (+420)

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