NBA Three Point Contest Best Bets, Guaranteed Picks & Predictions

NBA Three Point Contest Betting Preview

WagerTalk NBA handicapper Andy Lang gives his NBA Three Point Contest picks and predictions before activities start on Saturday at 8:00pm ET from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN. Who are the favorites, which underdogs have a shot at winning, what are the rules? Read Andy’s NBA Three Point Contest betting preview below!

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NBA Three Point Contest Participants

Participants	Three Point Contest Winner Odds (Courtesy of Caesars)
Damian Lillard	+475
Tyrese Haliburton	+500
Trae Young	+600
Lauri Markkanen	+600
Karl-Anthony Towns	+600
Jalen Brunson	+600
Malik Beasley	+650
Donovan Mitchell	+700

NBA Three Point Contest Rules (From NBA.com)

▪ Ball racks are positioned at five main shooting locations around the three-point arc. 

▪ Four of the racks contain four official NBA game balls and one multi-colored “money”  ball.  

▪ The NBA game balls are worth one point. The multi-colored “money” ball is worth two  points.  

▪ For each rack, the multi-colored “money” ball can only be shot after the four orange  balls are shot.  

▪ The fifth rack will be a special “all money ball” rack. Each competitor will decide the  spot for this rack to be placed at one of the five main shooting locations. Every ball on  this rack is worth two points. 

▪ Two ball pedestals are positioned at “STARRY Range”( 2 deep shot locations  between racks 2 and 3 and the other between racks 3 and 4.  

▪ Each ball pedestal holds one special white “STARRY” ball  

▪ Shots made with the white ball are worth 3 points.  

▪ Players must exhaust the ball racks and pedestals in competition order before moving  on to the next shooting location  

▪ Players may not start on or over the three-point line while shooting. The basket will not  count if the line is violated. For the two additional deep shots, the player must begin  their shooting motion with at least one foot in “STARRY Range” designated by a floor  decal.  

▪ INSTANT REPLAY – At the discretion of the referee, instant replay may be utilized for  clarification of rules compliance.  

▪ If a player shoots a money ball or STARRY Ball out of sequence, that shot becomes  void and will not count.  

▪ If a player skips a “STARRY Ball” and shoots one or more balls in the next rack, that  “STARRY Ball” is eliminated and will not count if subsequently shot and made.

NBA Three Point Contest Betting Analysis

I think it would surprise everyone to know that out of those contestants, Trae Young leads the group with most three pointers made this season with 167, Malik Beasley is 2nd with 156, and Markkanen is 3rd with 149, and what’s interesting is that Markkanen has only played in 46 games while Beasley has played 54 and Young has played 50.

The other surprising thing out of this group is that Karl Anthony Towns leads this group with made 3 point field goal percentage at 43.7% with Jalen Brunson 2nd at 41.1% and Markkanen 3rd at 40.3%.

The big thing with this contest is the ALL MONEY BALL RACK which players can put at any position outside the arc with each ball being worth 2 points so 10 points are available at that rack and the STARRY RANGE shots that are worth 3 points.

Lillard won last years contest by hitting two STARRY RANGE shots in the final round which gave him the one point victory. If he misses one of those shots, he loses to Buddy Hield. So when I look at who to bet on, I have to take those things into account.

I’m eliminating Damian Lillard as he’s the defending Champion and we haven’t had a defending Champion since 2007-2008 with Jason Kapono, and I’m eliminating Karl Anthony towns who won in 2022 as multiple time winners are rare.

Steph Curry and Jason Kapono are the only multiple time winners in the last 20 years. I’m also eliminating Lauri Markkanen as we don’t see too many power forwards have success here. Karl Anthony Towns, Kevin Love and Dirk Nowitzki are the only bigs to win in recent memory.

NBA Three Point Contest Predictions

Tyrese Haliburton +500

He had success last year as he had the highest score in the first round, but couldn’t close the deal so he might have some extra motivation this year.

He came back from the injured hamstring and has gotten better and better from three pointers and his last three games of the regular season he’s a combined 12-26 which an nice increase in make percentage compared to the 10-29 in the 6 games prior to that.

Malik Beasley +650 

Beasley is a 3 point specialist as that’s his primary job on the Bucks. He averages 4.1  field goal attempts made per game this season and 2.9 of them are three pointers.

In February he’s made 36 shots, and 30 of them are three pointers so that’s all he’s  looking to do and I think it sets up well in this format.

He also has a little extra  motivation as he’s going up against his teammate, and defending Champion Damian  Lillard so it would be great bragging rights for him to walk away Champion.

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