Reserve All-Star picks are in
LeBron gets closer to career scoring mark
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Portland’s Damian Lillard had to have known they were going to the All-Star Game. Players averaging more than 30 points per game typically don’t have to worry about not hearing their name called.
Other players — like Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Utah’s Lauri Markkanen — had reason for concern.
NBA coaches made them very happy. And probably made a few other guys very unhappy.
The reserves for the Feb. 19 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City were announced Thursday night. From the Eastern Conference, it was Embiid, Adebayo, Haliburton, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan, Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday and New York’s Julius Randle.
From the Western Conference, the picks were Gilgeous-Alexander, Lillard, Memphis teammates Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Markkanen, Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George.
Embiid was an easy pick. Other candidates probably were tougher for coaches to pass on — that list including Phoenix’s Devin Booker, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Atlanta’s Trae Young, all of them averaging around 27 points per game this season. Philadelphia’s James Harden, averaging 11 assists per game, also was left out; unless he’s picked as an injury replacement, his streak of 10 consecutive All-Star appearances is over.
Same goes for Denver’s Aaron Gordon. The West-leading Nuggets were hoping, and weren’t happy when the results were announced.
“Aaron Gordon deserves to be an All-Star,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “When you have the best record in the Western Conference, and you’ve had it for a while now, and you’ve been able to sustain that high level, and you look at the year that Aaron Gordon is having, to me it’s just a travesty that the coaches didn’t vote him in.”
The reserves are selected by the 30 NBA head coaches, who each cast ballots for seven players from their own conference.
The 14 players who were announced Thursday join this pool of starters: team captains LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn teammates Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and New Orleans’ Zion Williamson.
Durant and Williamson are currently out with injuries. If either of them, or any other All-Star selection, cannot play for whatever reason then the task of replacing them falls on Commissioner Adam Silver.
James and Antetokounmpo will draft their teams live, shortly before the All-Star Game in a new twist this season; past All-Star drafts in the now-6-year-old captain’s format had been done ahead of time. Boston interim coach Joe Mazzulla will coach Antetokounmpo’s team; the Nuggets’ Malone is an All-Star coach now for the second time and will coach the team that James selects.
Thursday’s games LAKERS 112, PACERS 111:
In Indianapolis, LeBron James had 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and pulled within 63 points of becoming the NBA’s career scoring champ as Los Angeles rallied to beat Indiana.
James gave Los Angeles its first lead on a 3-pointer with 2:35 left in the game, and Anthony Davis’ 11-footer with 35.1 seconds left was the decisive basket. Davis finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds.
Aaron Nesmith scored a careerhigh 24 points, for Indiana.
The NBA has further adjusted the schedule of nationally televised games with James closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record.
James is on pace to break the record Tuesday at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That game will now be shown on TNT, a change that forced a reworking of that night’s network chedule.
CAVALIERS 128, GRIZZLIES 113: In Cleveland, Darius Garland scored 32 points shortly after being left off the All-Star team and carried Cleveland following Donovan Mitchell’s ejection, leading the Cavaliers past slumping Memphis.
Mitchell was tossed in the third quarter for throwing the ball at Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks after the pair tangled under the basket. Brooks also was thrown out.
With the Cavs leading 81-76, Brooks missed a shot and fell in the lane. While on the floor, he flung his arm back and struck Mitchell, who was standing over him, in the groin area. Mitchell dropped in pain and retaliated by firing the ball at Brooks and then charging and shoving him along the baseline in front of the Memphis bench.
Desmond Bane scored 25 points and All-Star Ja Morant had 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Grizzlies.
NUGGETS 134, WARRIORS 117:
In Denver, Jamal Murray had 33 points and Nikola Jokic recorded his 17th triple-double of the season with 22 points, 16 assists and 14 rebounds. He had a triple-double by the midway mark of the third quarter as the Nuggets remain unbeaten when he reaches the plateau.
Stephen Curry had 28 points and Jordan Poole added 22 on a night when Golden State hit 19 3-pointers.
Both teams were missing key components. The Warriors were without Klay Thompson (injury management) and Draymond Green, a late scratch with tightness in his right calf. Denver didn’t have Aaron Gordon due to a sore ankle.
KNICKS 106, HEAT 104: In New York, RJ Barrett rebounded from a late-game benching with 30 points, Isaiah Hartenstein made big plays on both ends of the floor in the final minute and New York beat Miami.
BULLS 114, HORNETS 98: In Chicago, Ayo Dosunmu matched a season high with 22 points, Coby White scored 20 points and Chicago overcame shaky outings by DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine to beat Charlotte.