The annual All-Star break of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season took place last weekend with the regular mix of fun and games, plus the addition of a highly anticipated, head-to-head, three-point shoot-out between Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Sabrina Ionescu from the women’s NBA (WNBA) team, New York Liberty.

The three-point and slam dunk contests brought their usual level of excitement as Damian Lillard and Mac McClung, respectively, reprised their wins last year, but the All-Star Game (outside of some impressive display of shooting prowess) left a lot to be desired. This year’s All-Star Game saw the return of the traditional east vs west format, which swayed from the format employed from 2018 to 2023, when team captains drafted players from an All-Star pool, regardless of team or conference.

The east won the game for the first time since 2014, beating the west 211-186 last Sunday night and broke the 200-point mark for the first time in All-Star history, eclipsing the 196 points set by the Western Conference All-Stars in 2016. The combined total of 397 also surpassed the previous record of 374 set in 2017 and the winners scored a record-setting 42 three-pointers, beating the record of 35 set in 2019.

Truthfully, defence has been long considered as optional in the annual showcase of the league’s premier talents, with players opting for offensive highlights and making every effort to avoid injury. However, despite the scoring frenzy and astronomical three-point shots from 30 or 40 feet, the lackadaisical defensive efforts have made the All-Star Game hard to watch.

Understandably, it’s hard to play defence when someone is shooting from the other side of the court, but the league needs to find a way to inject some intensity and competitive spirit to go along with the crowd-pleasing antics. The game needs to be a game again.

That being said, the “NBA vs WNBA”, “Stephen vs Sabrina” three-point contest, which took place last Saturday night, was the first of its kind and a welcome addition to the weekend’s line-up. Ionescu opted to shoot from the men’s three-point line at 23 feet, nine inches, instead of the women’s line of 20 feet, six inches, while using a regulation WNBA ball, and narrowly lost the contest 26-29, that came down to the last couple of shots by Curry.

While it was not on the level of the highly televised “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973 — Billie Jean King v Bobby Riggs – and certainly didn’t carry any of the chauvinistic overtones, the matchup brought a level of anticipation that was long missing from the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. It offered good camaraderie, great entertainment, and top-level shooting, with Ionescu hinting at a possible rematch in her post-contest interview, stating, “I’m going to have to try to beat him next time.” Maybe in July when the WNBA hosts their own All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, Arizona?

The league resumed last night with 12 games and has another 10 slated to play this evening, and with each team already having played 53 to 56 games of their 82-game season, we are truly at the start of the season’s business end. Every game in the next two months will significantly shape the play-off picture for teams with postseason ambitions, and there are a few this weekend that should provide top-shelf entertainment.

The Philadelphia 76ers have one of the hardest weekends of all NBA teams between today and Sunday, having to play the Cleveland Cavaliers this evening and the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon. The 76ers had a hot start to the season but have cooled off, finding themselves at fifth in the Eastern Conference and are without reigning league Most Valuable Player (MVP) Joel Embiid, who tore the lateral meniscus of his left knee at the end of January.

The Cavaliers are second in the Eastern Conference and are on a similar pace to what was exhibited last season. They face a big test coming off the break, and even without Embiid, the 76ers are hard to beat at home. Cleveland won nine of their 10 games heading into last weekend’s break, losing only to Philadelphia in that run, but Donovan Mitchell has been on a tear, leading the Cavaliers in points, assists, and steals, and without Embiid – leading the league in points (35.3) – this contest is more evenly poised. All things considered, Cleveland should come away with a win this evening.

The Bucks, who sit at third in the Eastern Conference, despite losing seven of 10 under new coach Doc Rivers, will tonight visit the Minnesota Timberwolves who find themselves atop the Western Conference and are high on confidence, riding a four-game win streak. The Bucks started the season impressively but have stumbled and are finding it difficult to come up with wins in recent times, while the Timberwolves are finding various ways to win. The chemistry may change after the break or the formula may remain, but in any case, this should be a good one.

The Celtics picked up where they left off last season and are the only NBA team with 40 or more wins at the break. They visit the New York Knicks (fourth in the Eastern Conference) tomorrow night for an expected blockbuster. There is no love lost between these rivals and all statistics can be thrown out for this encounter. The days of ‘blood and guts’ basketball are far gone, but this is as close as one can get in this era. Expectations are high and both teams are expected to deliver.

Things come to a head on Sunday afternoon when the Bucks visit the 76ers, both having played (expected) intense games two nights before, the only difference being the 76ers not having to travel. Without Embiid the Bucks are favoured to win this encounter, but there is enough available talent in Philadelphia to make this an exciting contest. The Bucks enjoyed an exciting one-point victory (118-117) in the reverse fixture in October, but they looked a lot different at the start of the season than they do now. Any card can be played on Sunday, and it is expected to be well played.

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NDA 2023/24 Champion

Team Odds

Boston Celtics 3.65

Denver Nuggets 5,60

Los Angeles Clippers 6.40

Milwaukee Bucks 7.60

Phoenix Suns 15.00

New York Knicks 22.00

Minnesota Timberwolves 23.00

Oklahoma City Thunder 24.00

Philadelphia 76ers 28.00

Cleveland Cavaliers 29.00

*Only Top 10 odds shown (see website for full list)

Note: Odds are subject to change