Indiana Sportsbooks Ready For NBA All-Star Festivities In Chicago This Weekend
NBA All-Star weekend is no Super Bowl when it comes to sports betting, but it is another big event in February.
With the end of the NFL and College Football seasons, basketball has become the new top dog of Indiana sports betting.
In January, basketball’s handle in the Hoosier State almost broke the $60 million mark. Overall, Hoosiers bet over $20 million more on basketball than they did on football to open 2020.
With basketball sliding into that top spot, NBA All-Star Weekend presents a nice option for bettors looking to mix things up. Especially when you consider that the festivities are taking place just a quick hop over the state line in Chicago.
Indiana’s online sportsbooks are taking bets for most of the weekend’s events, starting with Friday’s NBA Rising Stars.
Here’s a breakdown of the promotions, prop bets and odds for All-Star weekend.
Promotions for NBA All-Star Weekend
FanDuel is leading the way when it comes to All-Star promotions. So far, they’re the only one out of Indiana’s sportsbooks to offer promotions specific to NBA All-Star weekend.
The sportsbook’s promotions are geared towards All-Star Saturday Night. Saturday’s 3-point and dunk contests are two of the more popular events of the weekend.
FanDuel is giving users a chance to win $25,000 of site credit in its free to play 3 Point Contest Props Pick’em. The prize will be split between every player who picks all five prop bets correctly.
Dunk contest fans can also place a $5 bet on the event with FanDuel to win $100 if it hits. Even with the $5 bet limit, those 20 to 1 odds are hard to beat. However, the promotion is only for new users.
Prop bets for All-Star weekend
DraftKings has taken the reigns when it comes to All-Star prop bets.
BetRivers and DraftKings are both offering identical odds for the All-Star Game’s MVP. Here’s a look at a few of the favorites to win the award.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo: +400
- LeBron James: +450
- Anthony Davis: +650
- Russell Westrbook: +1,000
- Kemba Walker: +1,200
So far DraftKings is offering the most additional prop bets for the weekend’s events. Its other props are centered around the 3-Point Contest.
Here’s a look at the odds for a few of the favorites for those props.
Odds to Make all five Moneyball shots
- David Bertans: Yes +600, No -1430
- Devonte’ Graham: Yes +900, No -5,000
- Joe Harris: Yes +350, No -590
- Buddy Hield: Yes +500, No -1,000
Odds to make a Mountain Dew Zone shot
- Trae Young: Yes -250, No +178
- Joe Harris: Yes -200, N0 +145
- Devin Booker: Yes -195, No +140
- Buddy Hield: Yes -182, No +132
Odds to make both Mountain Dew Zone shots
- Trae Young: Yes +400, No -715
- Davis Bertans: Yes +450, No -835
- Joe Harris: Yes +480, No -910
- Devin Booker: Yes +500, No -1,000
DraftKings and BetRivers are also offering prop bets for the NBA Rising Stars. Gamblers can bet on things such as the first team to score 10 points, and which team will score the most 3-pointers.
BetRivers has similar prop bets listed for the All-Star Game itself, although DraftKings only has odds for the game’s MVP.
Odds for the NBA Rising Stars
Starting with the NBA Rising Stars, all of the online sportsbooks in the state offer betting on the event except for BetAmerica.
Here’s the breakdown for the Friday night’s moneylines. Team USA has been the favorite.
- DraftKings & BetRivers: Team USA -182, Team World +155
- FanDuel: Team USA -174, Team World +148
DrafKings and BetRivers are again in tandem when it comes to their point totals. FanDuel’s total is a bit lower, but still favors the type of high-scoring games that All-Star weekend is known to produce.
- DraftKings & BetRivers: Over/Under 304.5
- FanDuel: Over/Under 298.5
The point spread is also identical for most of the sportsbooks.
- DraftKings & BetRivers: Team USA -5, Team World +5
- FanDuel: Team USA -6, Team World +6
The NBA All-Star Skills Challenge’s odds
Once again, BetAmerica is the odd man out here. The sportsbook isn’t offering odds on any of Saturday’s events.
The Skills Challenge will get the night started as Jayson Tatum tries to defend his title. Indiana Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis will be making his first appearance in the event.
DraftKings and BetRivers have identical odds for the event, unlike FanDuel. Here’s a quick glimpse at the odds.
DraftKings & BetRivers
- Spencer Dinwiddie: +450
- Khris Middleton: +450
- Jayson Tatum: +500
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: +500
- Patrick Beverly: +600
- Pascal Siakam: +600
- Bam Adebayo: +1,000
- Domantas Sabonis: +1,000
FanDuel
- Spencer Dinwiddie: +380
- Jayson Tatum: +430
- Khris Middleton: +430
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: +430
- Pascal Siakam: +650
- Patrick Beverly: +750
- Domatas Sabonis: +900
- Bam Adebayo: +1,200
3-Point Contest Odds
Joe Harris was the surprise winner of All-Star Saturday Night’s second event last season. So far, he’s the favorite to the take home the trophy this time around.
Bet you never saw this coming, but DraftKings and BetRivers have the same odds for the shootout, with FanDuel once again being a little bit different.
Here’s how the odds are looking.
DraftKings & BetRivers
- Joe Harris: +450
- Duncan Robinson: +500
- Trae Young: +500
- Devin Booker: +500
- Davis Bertans: +550
- Buddy Hield: +700
- Zach LaVine: +1,000
- Devonte’ Graham: +1,200
FanDuel
- Joe Harris: +350
- Trae Young: +390
- Davis Bertans: +460
- Duncan Robinson: +460
- Devin Booker: +500
- Buddy Hield: +700
- Devonte’ Graham: +1,200
- Zach LaVine: +1,200
Dunk Contest betting not avaliable
Oddly enough, it’s not just BetAmerica leaving money on the table for this year’s Dunk Contest.
Betting on the event was not approved in Indiana, because its judges are celebrities that aren’t under the umbrella of the league’s betting integrity code.
Aaron Gordon faced off in the fan-favorite 2016 Dunk Contest against Zach LaVine.
Since the event went into multiple extra rounds due to tied scores between the two, it became one of the most revered matchups in the event’s history.
With LaVine not entering the contest this season, Gordon would have likely been the favorite.
So far the only betting that’s available for the event comes from FanDuel’s new user promotion, which is listed above.
Odds for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game
Enter, BetAmerica.
Indiana’s newest online sportsbook joins the party for Sunday’s only event.
All four of Indiana’s online sportsbooks are offering odds for the All-Star Game itself.
The point spreads favor Team LeBron, which features the fan-selected starters selected from the league’s Western Conference.
- FanDuel: Team LeBron -4.5, Team Giannis +4.5
- All Others: Team LeBron -5, Team Giannis +5
The moneylines are different as well, although they’re pretty similar in terms of their values for bettors.
- FanDuel: Team LeBron -200, Team Giannis +170
- DraftKings: Team LeBron -200, Team Giannis +163
- BetRivers: Team LeBron -200, Team Giannis +165
- BetAmerica: Team LeBron -195, Team Giannis +160
Indiana’s sportsbooks have different point totals as well.
- DraftKings & BetRivers: Over/Under 301.5
- FanDuel: Over/Under 300.5
- BetAmerica: Over/Under 300
The game will have a new format this year, with the fourth quarter being played to a target score rather than a time limit.
That change was made to honor NBA legend Kobe Bryant.