The NBA All-Star Game starting line-ups for next month were release in the early hours of this morning. For our vast European audience, there’s international brotherly love.
GASOL BROTHERS IN EAST/WEST STARTING FIVES
Pau Gasol (Chicago) and Marc Gasol (Memphis) will be the first brothers to be in the starting line-ups for the NBA All-Star Game.
Via AP:
Pau Gasol of Chicago will start up front for the East along with James and Carmelo Anthony for the Feb. 15 game in New York. Memphis’ Marc Gasol joins New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin in the West frontcourt.
Tom and Dick Van Arsdale played in the 1970 and 1971 games, but the Gasols — once traded for each other — are the first brothers to chosen to start.
“Knowing that I will be facing my brother Pau for the opening tip, it will be a true accomplishment for our family and a memory I will cherish for the rest of my career,” Marc Gasol said in a statement through the Grizzlies. “It holds special meaning to be voted in by the fans, and I look forward to representing my teammates, the organization, the city of Memphis and entire Mid-South community and Grizzlies fans across the world.”
Both Gasols were among the leaders in all the balloting updates, but Lowry was running more than 100,000 votes behind Wade, a perennial All-Star and fan favorite, when the last results were released. Fans rewarded him for his hard-nosed play in leading the Raptors to a huge lead in the Atlantic Division with his first All-Star appearance.
Starting line-ups: East: John Wall, Kyle Lowry, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Pau Gasol. West: Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Marc Gasol and Anthony Davis.
CURRY EDGES LEBRON TO LEAD VOTE GETTER
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry edged LeBron James to lead all voters for this year’s All-Star Game.
Via NBA PR:
NEW YORK — Dramatic late runs by Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors headline the final results of NBA All-Star Balloting 2015 presented by Sprint. Curry (1,513,324 votes) edged the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (1,470,483) to become the top overall vote-getter after trailing by 13,285 votes in the most recent balloting update. Curry, who started in last year’s NBA All-Star Game, is the first Warrior to be named a starter in back-to-back All-Star Games since Chris Mullin in 1991-92.
Lowry (805,290) rallied from a deficit of more than 100,000 votes at the last balloting update to overtake the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and join the Washington Wizards’ John Wall (886,368) in the starting backcourt for the Eastern Conference. Wall, making his second straight All-Star appearance and first start, is the first Wizards starter since Gilbert Arenas in 2007. This is the first All-Star appearance for Lowry, who becomes the first Raptor to start since Chris Bosh in 2008. The East will have two first-time starters in the backcourt for the first time since Allen Iverson (Philadelphia) and Eddie Jones (Charlotte) in 2000.
The 64th NBA All-Star Game will tip off Sunday, Feb. 15, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be seen by fans in 215 countries and territories and will be heard in 47 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 13th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 30th year of NBA All-Star coverage.
James, the top vote-getter last season, will start his 11th All-Star Game in 12 seasons. He was followed in the overall voting by the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis (1,369,911), who finished with the most votes among frontcourt players in the Western Conference. At 21, Davis is the youngest starter in this year’s game, which features five first-time starters and 10 starters from 10 different teams.
James, who this month became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 24,000 points, is joined in the East frontcourt by the Chicago Bulls’ Pau Gasol (974,177), an All-Star for the fifth time, and the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony (647,005), who earned his eighth All-Star nod. Anthony boasts the fourth-highest scoring average (21.1 points) in All-Star history and is the 10th player to earn four All-Star selections with two different teams (Denver, New York).
Gasol’s brother Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies was picked to start for the West, marking the first time in history two brothers will start an NBA All-Star Game. The Gasols are the first brothers to appear in the same All-Star Game since Tom and Dick Van Arsdale played in the 1970 and 1971 games.Curry, who this month became the fastest player in NBA history to hit 1,000 career three-pointers (369 games), is joined in the West backcourt by the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (1,152,402), named an All-Star for the 17th time, second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19). Bryant, who in December passed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, is the all-time leading scorer in All-Star Game history with 280 points.
Davis and Marc Gasol (795,121) will share the West frontcourt with the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin (700,615), an All-Star for the fifth consecutive season and the only player in the NBA averaging at least 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists this season. It’s the second straight All-Star nod for Davis, who leads the NBA in blocks (2.95 bpg) and ranks among the top 10 in scoring (24.3 ppg), rebounding (10.4 rpg) and field goal percentage (56.3). This is the second selection for the Grizzlies’ Gasol, who is averaging a career-high 19.3 points, nearly five points above his previous best.
TELETOVIC TO MISS REST OF THE SEASON
Bosnia & Herzegovina and Brooklyn Nets forward Mirza Teletovic will miss the rest of the season due to multiple blood clots in his lungs.
Teletovic reportedly left Thursday night’s game against the Clippers and went straight to an L.A. area hospital, where he was diagnosed. Scary stuff for the Bosnian player, who was averaging 8.5 ppg 4.9 and rpg for Brooklyn this season.
Via Bleacher Report:
Per NBA.com, Teletovic will remain hospitalized, and he will be administered blood thinners in order to eliminate the clots.
This news comes a day after Teletovic was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after complaining of shortness of breath during Brooklyn’s Thursday night game against the Clippers.
