Oddsmaker offers up All-Star Action

The NBA takes a break from the daily grind of the regular season this weekend to show off its stars and have some fun with the playing of the 60th NBA All-Star Game Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (8 pm Eastern, TNT).

As of Thursday morning oddsmaker.ag is holding off on lining Sunday's All-Star Game.

Last year the East won the All-Star Game for the fourth time in the last six years, beating the West 141-139. But the West has won six of the last 11 All-Star meetings.

The East roster consists of Boston's Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo, New York's Amare Stoudemire, Miami's LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, Orlando's Dwight Howard, Chicago's Derrick Rose, and Atlanta's Joe Johnson and Al Horford.

The West will counter with hometowners Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol of the Lakers and Blake Griffin of the Clippers, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, Carmelo Anthony of (for the moment) Denver, Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas, Deron Williams of Utah, double-double machine Kevin Love of Minnesota (an injury replacement for Houston's Yao Ming), Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili of San Antonio, and Chris Paul of New Orleans.

With defense optional and offensive showmanship a requirement, the last 11 NBA All-Star contests have seen an average of 256 points scored, excluding the two overtime periods played in the 2003 game.

Also, of those last 11 All-Star affairs, five were decided by six points or less, but three were decided by 15 points or more.

Among the myriad All-Star festivities on tap this weekend are the Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam, which matches a team of rookie All-Stars vs. a team of sophomores (Friday, 9 pm Eastern, TNT), the Slam Dunk showdown (Friday, 9:30 pm Eastern, NBA TV), the D-League All-Star Game (Saturday, 5 pm Eastern, NBA TV), and the three-point contest (Saturday, 8:30 pm Eastern, TNT).

The sophomores are 8-3 vs. the rookies. Last year, though, the Rooks beat the Sophs for the first time in eight tries, 140-128.

In the three-point contest defending champion Paul Pierce will go against Allen, Durant, Cleveland's Daniel Gibson, Miami's James Jones, and Golden State's Dorell Wright. Allen, now the NBA's all-time leader in three-pointers made, won the three-point contest 10 years ago.

oddsmaker.ag will be offering wagering action on some of these competitions, so bettors can tune in and watch the events with a little something extra on the line.