The NBA All-Star lineups are set and the All-Star weekend is primed to be as exciting as ever with the three point contest and dunk contest.
The starters and reserves were earlier this month and to everyone’s surprise there were a few snubs worth mentioning. The starter for the East are as follows, Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, Lebron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jimmy Butler. The West starters are Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, and James Harden. This year’s game could be even more high scoring than last years game where both teams scored almost 200 points a piece. With Curry and Harden and Curry leading the way the West could easily outscore the East as they do not have as much of a scoring threat. The East does however have better defenders in Jimmy Butler, Lebron, and DeRozan. You can check out the full lineups and reserves at the link below.
http://www.nba.com/teams/allstar/2017
Now lets move onto the three point and dunk contests.
The three point contest features the best three point shooters in the NBA. The lineup goes as follows, Eric Gordon, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry, Wesley Matthews, CJ McCollum, Klay Thompson, and Nick Young. The favorite to win this contest is Klay Thompson who finished second last year to fellow teammate Steph Curry. There could be some surprises as Nick Young when he gets rolling is deadly from the outside as well as past winner Kyrie Irving. The three point contest should shape up to be the most exciting event of the night as the dunk contest does not provide the star power it normally does.
The dunk contest lineup is, Aaron Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Glenn Robinson III, and Derrick Jones Jr. This dunk contest does not offer the same amount of excitement as past contests have. The clear favorite is Aaron Gordon who finished second last year. Its weird to me because the other contestants in the contest are not really known for their dunking ability, but who knows there could be a battle like last year, only time will tell.
Check out the highlights from last years All-Star Game below
What do you guys think of this year’s All-Star weekend lineup?
Sports Talk with Brandon Stevens 