The opening total for the 2018 NBA All-Star was the second-highest Over/Under number in 10 years of All-Star Weekends. However, due to the new draft format of the annual NBA showcase – instead of East versus West – sharp money pounded the total and forced one of the biggest line moves you will ever see in sports betting.
Some offshore sportsbooks opened the All-Star Game total at 365.5 points Friday and immediately got blasted by Under money, forcing a drastic adjustment to the total. The number plummeted all of the way down to 333 as of late Sunday afternoon - a 32.5-point move off the opening figure.
Of course, this year the league introduced a new format for the composition of the two teams. It’s no longer East vs. West: it’s Team LeBron vs. Team Steph.
There are some, like Sharp 600 podcast host Joe Fortenbaugh, who think there will be more intensity in this year’s game because of the team selection process. The massive line adjustment would back up that theory, as sharp money attacked the opening total expecting more pride on the line due to the draft format.
Bragging rights are not the only stakes that have increased. The NBA doubled its prize payout to each player on the winning team from $50,000 to $100,000. A six-figure cash prize might be enough to see some players get down in a defensive stance before the last two minutes in the fourth quarter.
This Under action is contrary to recent NBA All-Star Game betting trends, which have seen the Over cash in during eight of the past nine exhibitions. Oddsmakers had steadily increased the betting total year after year as the East and West All-Stars easily toppled those lofty totals.
Three-point shooting has been the biggest culprit when it comes to high-scoring All-Star Game finishes. The 2010 event had 38 attempts from distance and in just six years the record was set for the most 3-pointers attempted in an NBA All-Star game with 139. The All-Star record for most total points was set in 2016 (369 points) and then broken the very next year (374).
That lack of defense sparked the league to alter the way in which the All-Star Game is played, dropping the traditional conference competition and installing a draft format with superstars LeBron James and Stephen Curry selecting teams from a pool of selected standouts.
The spread for Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game has also seen some wild movement. It opened with Team Steph as a 3.5-point favorite but has since jumped the fence, with Team LeBron now a 3-point chalk for Sunday’s showcase in Los Angeles.
**video
