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I’ll say what we’re all thinking: Ricky Davis got snubbed from the 2024 All-Star starters.
All-Star Picks
Starters announced. Who should be reserves?
The NBA’s All-Star starters were announced on TNT last night, and it went mostly how we figured it would. Here are your starting fives for each conference:
LeBron and Giannis are the two leading vote-getters for their respective conferences. LeBron set an NBA record by being selected for his 20th consecutive All-Star starting lineup. And there was something interesting in the voting, with Jalen Brunson and Lillard having tied aggregated voting scores. Dame was third in the fan vote, fourth in player voting and ranked fifth in the media vote. Brunson was fifth, third and second, respectively. Both players averaged out to 3.75 as their total score, but fan voting was the tiebreaker.
Congratulations to all! You get to be an All-Star and wear these generic, uninspiring jerseys.
Now that we know the starters, we must wait a week to find out whom the coaches select as the reserves. Remember: There are two backcourt selections, three frontcourt selections and two wild-card spots for each conference’s reserves. These would be my picks for each conference:
West
East
- Reserve backcourt: Brunson (Knicks, never been an All-Star), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers, four-time All-Star)
- Reserve frontcourt: Bam Adebayo (Heat, two-time All-Star), Kristaps Porziņģis (Celtics, one-time All-Star), Julius Randle (Knicks, two-time All-Star)
- Wild cards: Tyrese Maxey (76ers, never been an All-Star), Trae Young (Hawks, two-time All-Star)
Is it time to expand the All-Star rosters from 12 to 15? Or is that too much of “everybody gets a trophy” for this process?
The Latest From Shams
Curry, Ionescu to compete
A new, exciting competition may be on tap for NBA All-Star Weekend. League sources tell me a 3-point Contest is being planned between Warriors star Stephen Curry and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu. Curry hinted at the possibility of the challenge while mic’d up at last night’s Warriors-Kings game, which prompted a response from Ionescu. In case you don’t remember, Ionescu set a record last year for the WNBA and NBA 3-point Contest with 37 points in the final round. Curry had previously put up 31 points in a round in 2021.
I’m told the two are expected to raise money for charity with the competition. Ionescu shot 44.8 percent from 3 last season for the Liberty. Curry, of course, is the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made and is shooting 40.2 percent from distance this season. Now it looks like we’ll see which shooter will earn bragging rights in a few weeks in Indianapolis.
UV Warning
Suns are NBA’s hottest team
Remember that super team thing the Phoenix Suns (26-18, fifth in West) were trying to create with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal? And then, we didn’t really see much out of Phoenix in terms of being a super team? Beal was hurt. Booker missed time. The supporting cast was pretty anemic while trying to find any ounce of consistency and continuity on the basketball court. With all that being said, don’t look now, but the Suns are on fire, and they’re pretty damn healthy.
The result has been the Suns being the hottest team in basketball, with seven straight victories and 12 wins in 15 games. During this 15-game stretch, Phoenix has the league’s fourth-best offense, scoring 122 points per 100 possessions. And the defense has been top 10 over that time. The Suns are four games from No. 3 in the West. So, what’s been working?
Let’s start with their big three of Booker, KD and Beal. When this trio is on the court (11 times during this 15-game stretch), it’s been astronomically dominant. The Suns sport a net rating of plus-18 while scoring a ridiculous 126.5 points per 100 possessions with Booker, KD and Beal hooping together. To put that in perspective, the Pacers currently have the best single-season offensive rating ever at 121.0 points per 100 possessions.
This was James Jones’ vision when he made the risky trade for Beal, giving up all flexibility and depth for a higher ceiling. He knew the offense could be too overwhelming for opponents to overcome. That’s kind of happened lately. Mo Dakhil recently wrote about the Suns’ unselfish offense. They’re running many actions with these three that have multiple options to utilize, leaving defenses guessing and praying.
Phoenix desperately needs some 3-and-D type guys or extra size to battle Jokić in the postseason. Those only come on the buyout market. For those of you rooting against the idea of big threes and super teams, the Suns are looking to ruin your days.
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#KnicksTape
Bing, the Knicks are are thriving
The Knicks (28-17, fourth in East) gave the defending champion Nuggets (31-15, third in West) a good, old-fashioned ass-kicking last night. Do we have any idea why? Injuries couldn’t be it because Denver had its starting lineup and full rotation. Due to the 122-84 final score, it can’t be chalked up to a lucky win. So, the only conclusion we can draw is the Knicks simply dominated, right? That’s precisely what they’ve been doing since the OG Anunoby trade.
Since Anunoby’s Knicks debut on New Year’s Day, they’re 11-2, with their only losses being to Orlando (23-21, eighth in East) and Dallas (24-20, eighth in West) by a combined eight points. Other than that, the Knicks are handling business right now. During this stretch, New York has the league’s best record and defense while sporting the second-best net rating (plus-15). Brunson and Randle have been absurd during these 13 games. Anunoby has been knocking down shots and locking up assignments since becoming a Knick.
Everything is falling into place. You kind of forget they’re missing Mitchell Robinson right now, so it could actually be better. The Knicks are two games behind Philadelphia for third in the East. These are not your slightly older cousin’s Knicks. They’re looking like a problem for the East.
More from last night:
Pacers 134, 76ers 122: No Haliburton for Indy (25-20, sixth in East), which still dismantled the Sixers’ (29-14, third in East) defense thanks to Pascal Siakam.
Celtics 143, Heat 110: Boston had an 80 percent true shooting mark, which doesn’t even sound real. The Celtics (35-10) lead the East by 3.5 games. Miami (24-21, seventh in East) is in Play-In territory.
Kings 134, Warriors 133: Steph had a chance to win it and dribbled the ball off his foot. Golden State (19-23, 12th in West) is two games behind the last Play-In Spot. Sacramento (25-18, seventh in West) is a half game behind sixth.
Wolves 96, Nets 94: It was ugly fourth for the West-leading Wolves (32-13), but KAT helped them survive. Brooklyn (17-27, 11th in East) has lost 12 of 14.
Lakers 141, Bulls 132: The Lakers (23-23, ninth in West) shot 60 percent overall and 64 percent from deep as four starters cleared 20 points. Chicago (21-25) is 7-15 on the road.
Bounce Passes
Look at our own Jon Krawczynski doing TV sideline reporting for Wolves games! KAT can’t believe it.
The Bucks talked about Adrian Griffin getting fired. Giannis claims no input on team decisions.
Tyrese Maxey’s leap is looking pretty special.
Screen Game (All times Eastern)
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Main Screen: Cavs-Bucks (8 p.m.). Can the Cavs (26-16, fifth in East) get back on track and stop Joe Prunty, the interim coach king?
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Second Screen: Suns-Pacers (7 p.m.). We could get 280 points in this one.
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League Pass Game of the Night: Thunder-Pelicans (8 p.m.). This would make a phenomenal playoff series. Full schedule here.
(Top photo: Andrew D. Bernstein / Getty Images)
