Sign In $

2025 NBA All-Star Game Picks & Predictions

by Nick Galaida (nickgalaida) Last Updated 2025-02-16 21:30:41

LeBron of the Lakers

2025 NBA All-Star Game Predictions & Picks

The NBA will wrap-up its All-Star festivities on Sunday night with their 74th annual All-Star Game. However, fans tuning into the action this evening won’t be seeing a traditional matchup between the Eastern and Western Conference, nor will they be seeing rosters drafted by a team captain. New this year, the league is introducing a mini-tournament to the All-Star Game, splitting the talent among 4 teams, bracket style.

Tip-off for the first head-to-head matchup of the night is scheduled for shortly after 8:00 p.m. ET on TNT.

If looking for a detailed explanation of the new format for this year’s event, check out our 2025 NBA All-Star Game Odds & Betting Tips article posted earlier today. Below, we take a deeper dive into the rosters and offer a betting prediction for the event.

Team Shaq (OGs)

The OGs are not short on experience heading into Sunday. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, and Anthony Davis have all won All-Star Game MVP at some point during their careers. Davis will not play due to injury, but even without Davis, this is clearly the most accomplished lineup in tonight’s tournament.

Team Shaq also has the benefit of rostering the hometown star, Curry. We have seen on numerous occasions in this event that players tend to put in a little bit more effort when their city is hosting the festivities. As one recent example, Tyrese Haliburton scored 32 points in last year’s All-Star Game, with Indianapolis being the host city.

This is by far the most talented team that will be competing this evening, and they have a near automatic win with a first round matchup against the young Rising Stars.

Team Chuck (Global Stars)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points in last year’s All-Star Game, but the rest of the Global Stars are relatively unaccomplished in this event. There is also the concern that one of the most talented players on this roster, Nikola Jokic, simply doesn’t care too much about the outcome of this exhibition. Jokic scored 13 points last year in Indianapolis, but he had scored 10 points or fewer in each of his 5 All-Star appearances.

The play of Donovan Mitchell and Victor Wembanyama is likely to go a long way toward influencing how far Team Chuck gets tonight. Mitchell scored 40 points when the game was in Utah two seasons ago, but he has 9 points or fewer in 2 of his other 3 All-Star appearances. Wembanyama has the potential to be the best player on the floor, but it remains to be seen what his motivation levels are on Sunday after being disqualified from Saturday’s Skills Challenge despite not breaking any rules.

Team Kenny (Young Stars)

Anthony Edwards, a young, emerging star in the NBA, seems to be well-positioned to put on a show on Sunday in The Bay. Edwards has been vocal this season about his dissatisfaction with how many double-teams he has faced and with his general usage in Minnesota’s offense at times. Tonight, Edwards shouldn’t be double-teamed at all, and he shouldn’t have to fight too hard for high usage on a roster that lacks a clear alpha. Edwards took 25+ shots in 4 of his final 5 regular season games prior to the break – it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue that aggression.

Team Candace (Rising Stars)

Stephon Castle put on a good show in yesterday’s Dunk Contest, but he’s not exactly the type of player that a coach would love to have as a No. 1 option when going up against a team that has some of the most accomplished players in league history. Players like Castle and Amen Thompson have a bright future in the NBA, but this is more of a marketing opportunity for the young stars than anything else. Team Shaq has a significant part of the core group that won the United States a gold medal in the Olympics this past summer. There is only so much that a fan can expect from a group of inexperienced young players here. We might see some fun moments, but don’t expect to see the Rising Stars playing for a championship in this tournament.

All-Star Game Prediction

From a betting perspective, there isn’t much of a true edge in this event given that it’s the first year with the new format. However, the one thing that is clear is that Team Shaq has undoubtedly the easiest path to the championship this evening – to the point that it’s not a stretch to say they are essentially receiving a bye.

Based on the math alone, it makes sense to invest in this roster ahead of tonight’s action. Assuming we don’t see a historic upset in the semifinal round, Team Shaq should be matching up against Team Chuck or Team Kenny in the championship – both teams that Team Shaq would be favored against. Therefore, a (+100) ticket pre-event should at least set up bettors with a risk-free hedge opportunity on whoever is the other championship round contender. It’s also not a bad idea to simply let this ticket ride given that Team Shaq has a combined 10 All-Star Game MVPs on their squad.

PICK: Team Shaq (+100), FanDuel

Image Credit: Getty Images

About the Author

nickgalaida
Nick Galaida (nickgalaida)

A failed high school pitcher, Nick Galaida discovered that he has a higher aptitude for analyzing and writing about sports than he does playing them. To his friends, he is better known as “The Commish.” When he’s not organizing a fantasy league, placing a bet, or writing an article, he’s probably nose-deep in a book—further illustrating the point that his niche in this world is as a nerd rather than an athlete. Follow Nick on Twitter – @CommishFilmRoom