Kawhi, PG selected as All-Star Game reserves
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers were chosen as All-Star reserves Thursday, while the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks also had two players selected.
Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves will be going to the Feb. 18 game in Indianapolis. Stephen Curry is an All-Star for the 10th time, while the Lakers' Anthony Davis and Devin Booker of Phoenix rounded out the West reserves.
Jalen Brunson was selected for the first time and was joined by teammate Julius Randle from the Knicks, who went 14-2 in January. The East had two other first-time selections in Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey and Orlando's Paolo Banchero, with Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell and Boston's Jaylen Brown joining them.
Maxey celebrated his selection — and return from a sprained ankle that sidelined him three games — by scoring a career-high 51 points in the 76ers' 127-124 victory at Utah on Thursday night.
The West is the far more experienced squad. Curry tied Hall of Famer Paul Arizin's Warriors franchise record for most selections, while Davis and George — who will be returning to his original NBA home in Indiana — are All-Stars for the ninth time. Leonard is a six-time selection.
The starters were announced last week. Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard will be joined in the East by Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, Boston's Jayson Tatum and Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton.
The West starters are the Lakers' LeBron James, Denver's Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant of Phoenix in the frontcourt, along with guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City and Luka Doncic of Dallas.
The reserves were selected through voting by head coaches in each conference. They had to choose three frontcourt players, two guards and two other players, regardless of position.
That's not enough to bring a number of worthy players putting up big numbers in an era where teams are piling them up nightly. Among those not selected for the game were Atlanta's Trae Young, averaging 27 points and 10.9 assists, or the Sacramento duo of Domantas Sabonis, the NBA's leading rebounder, or De'Aaron Fox.
The NBA-leading Celtics and Timberwolves both hoped to have three All-Stars, but neither Boston's Derrick White nor Minnesota center Rudy Gobert were chosen.
The Wolves had to settle for having two All-Stars for the fifth time in franchise history, the first since Towns and Jimmy Butler in 2018.
If any players are injured and can't play, their replacement is chosen by Commissioner Adam Silver. Randle is likely out because of a dislocated right shoulder that is expected to sideline him through the All-Star break.