Handicapping All-Star Saturday

   While the superstars won't be on the court until Sunday night, the competition of All-Star Saturday always provides entertainment for the fans. With a new format built for cross-conference showdowns, tonight's contests should be plenty entertaining. Here's the predictions:

Skills Challenge

   Tony Parker will try to join Dwyane Wade as the only back-to-back winner of this event. He enters tonight's Challenge as the favorite, but tonight, I think youth will be served when rookie Damian Lillard wins the event. Lillard will be giving max effort after a poor shooting performance in last night's Rising Stars Challenge, and the Skills Challenge is usually a case of who wants it most.

    Sixers All-Star Jrue Holiday is the other name to watch here. His all-around point guard play makes him a contender. And of course, Jeremy Lin will try to reclaim some of his mid-February popularity from last year as he will be playing with the home crowd's support. 

   But in the end, watch Lillard to be hustling and become the first rookie to win the Skills Challenge. 

Three-Point Contest

   Conventional wisdom says that the three 6'10" white three-point specialists should be favored tonight, but that's not the history of this contest. 

   Matt Bonner, Ryan Anderson and Steve Novak will try win at their own game tonight while facing point guards Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry and Pacers swingman Paul George. I think the sweet-shooting guards will face off in the finals tonight, with Curry winning. 

   Irving and Curry are relied upon by their teams to catch fire often, so they're used to putting together a string of makes. George winning would be a true upset, but two of the last three winners, Paul Pierce and Kevin Love, aren't known as three-point marksmen. 

Slam Dunk Contest

   The NBA saves the most anticipated contest for last tonight, as not four but six hyper-athletes will try to amaze fans with a creative and never-before-seen dunk.

   This is truly anyone's contest, as five of the six players are relatively unknown commodities when it comes to dunking. Will Jeremy Evans repeat? Was last night's Rising Stars Challenge just a warm-up for Kenneth Faried? Will Gerald "Cupcake" Green bring another pastry into the mix? Will rookie Terrence Ross win what DeMar DeRozan never could? Will Eric Bledsoe's lack of size benefit him? And will James White live up to his reputation as "Best Dunker You've Never Heard Of"?

   I don't have answers to all of my many questions, but I am picking the favorite, James White here. He's in the rare position of sleeper-turned-favorite and I think he has something up hi sleeve that will shock us all. It's been years since the dunk contest has had true star power, but this year's lineup is very solid and will not disappoint.   

All-Star Saturday starts at 8:30 Eastern tonight. Check back tomorrow for the full All-Star Game preview. Follow @undergroundNBA