Joe Johnson and the Triplets will take on Stephen Jackson and the Killer 3s in the 2019 BIG3 basketball championship this Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. No matter who comes out on top, this season will mark the third year in a row that the increasingly popular BIG3 will have a new league champion.

2019 BIG3 Basketball Championship Odds, Preview & Pick

• When: Sunday, September 1, 2019 at 3:00 PM ET
• Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• BIG Basketball Championship Odds: TBA
• Live Stream: CBS.com

Killer 3s

The Killer 3’s tipped off the 2019 playoff action on Sunday by dispatching the defending champion Power, 50-42, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Team co-captain, Stephen Jackson, a 14-year NBA veteran, is the team’s leading scorer at 13.9 points per game. His teammates include former NBA players Josh Powell, C.J. Watson and Eddy Curry. Charles Oakley, the former New York Knicks great who played in the NBA for 19 seasons before retiring in 2004, is their coach.

The Killer 3’s finished last in the BIG3’s debut season two years ago and finished fifth in the eight-team league last year, missing the playoffs. This season, they finished tied for second in the regular season with a 5-3 record while averaging 48.2 points per game and allowing 44.3 points per game defensively.

Roster

• Stephen Jackson (Captain)
• Josh Powell (Co-Captain)
• Franklin Session (Co-Captain)
• Donte Greene
• J. Watson
• Eddy Curry
• Coach: Charles Oakley

Triplets

The top-seeded Triplets are led by league MVP Joe Johnson and they reached the championship game by bouncing the 3 Headed Monsters out of the playoffs with a commanding 50-39 win on Sunday. The top-ranked team in the league averaged a league-high 50.3 points per game while allowing 41.6 points per game defensively. Joe Johnson averaged a league-best 21.8 points per game.

Roster

• Joe Johnson (Captain)
• Al Jefferson (Co-Captain)
• Jannero Pargo
• Chris Johnson
• Sergerio Gipson
• Alan Anderson
• Coach: Lisa Leslie

Prediction

With the Triplets losing just once during the regular season, Joe Johnson and company are the clear-cut pick to bring home the bacon in this year’s Big 3 championship showdown. Not only does Johnson lead the league in scoring, but former NBA floor leader Jannero Pargo finished eighth in scoring by putting up a healthy 16.0 points per contest, which is more than anyone on the Killer 3s roster. Not only that, but former NBA big man Al Jefferson finished fifth in field goal shooting percentage (57.4) and the combination of the three former NBA performers will be a bit too much for the Killer 3s to handle in this intriguing affair.

I’m going with Joe Johnson to continue his eye-opening play while improving his chances of getting back in the NBA, which, is ironically looking pretty good with the former deep-ball threat recently working out for the Philadelphia 76ers and a handful of other teams reportedly having plenty of interest in the sweet-shooting veteran.

Pick: Triplets 50 Killer 3s 44