Melo Holding On To Starting Spot In All-Star Voting; LeBron No. 1
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Carmelo Anthony is on pace to be named an All-Star Game starter for the seventh time, and -- no surprise here -- LeBron James is dominating the balloting with an NBA-best 775,810 votes.
Anthony is third among Eastern Conference frontcourt players with 365,449 votes, behind James and Chicago's Pau Gasol (372,109), the NBA announced on Thursday. Washington's John Wall (439,395) and Miami's Dwyane Wade (396,757) are the East's top backcourt vote-getters.
Miami's Chris Bosh is a distant fourth for the East frontcourt with 283,899 votes. Anthony dropped from the second spot in the first returns announced on Christmas Day, but widened his lead over Bosh from 56,621 to 81,550.
In the West, the players holding the top three frontcourt spots are New Orleans' Anthony Davis (732,154), Los Angeles' Blake Griffin (403,415) and Memphis' Marc Gasol (343,587). The backcourt is shaping up to be Golden State's Stephen Curry (755,486) and Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant (694,665).
Voting for the Feb. 15 game at Madison Square Garden ends on Jan. 19. Starters will be announced three days later.
Anthony -- who seems a lock to make his eighth overall All-Star appearance -- might have to sit this one out in front of his home fans due to a left knee issue that has been plaguing him all season.
Anthony, averaging 23.9 points and 6.6 rebounds, played 29 minutes in Wednesday's loss after sitting out the second half Sunday in Portland.
"It can't get worse," he said, according to Newsday. "It's just a matter of what I can take and what I can't."
The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are co-hosting All-Star weekend, with skills events scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday (Feb. 13-14) at Barclays Center.
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