Nuggets’ Iverson among All-Star starters
Published 11:26 pm Thursday, January 24, 2008
NEW YORK — With a late rally, Allen Iverson is an All-Star starter again.
Iverson surged from behind in the fan voting to earn a starting spot in next month’s game when the vote totals were released Thursday night. Denver Nuggets teammate Carmelo Anthony will join him in New Orleans after earning his first starting nod.
Lakers star Kobe Bryant will team with Iverson in the Western Conference backcourt for his 10th All-Star appearance. Houston center Yao Ming was voted in by the fans for the sixth straight season at center, while San Antonio’s Tim Duncan was chosen as the other forward. He has been selected to every All-Star game since entering the league in 1997.
Boston’s Kevin Garnett, the MVP of the 2003 game, was the leading vote-getter with 2,399,148 votes. He will be joined in the East frontcourt by Cleveland forward LeBron James and Orlando center Dwight Howard, a first-time starter. Miami’s Dwyane Wade and New Jersey guard Jason Kidd round out the starting lineup.
Iverson rallied to pass Houston’s Tracy McGrady in the final weeks of voting to earn his first start since moving to the Western Conference early last season. He started seven straight All-Star games while playing for Philadelphia, but fell short last year after the 76ers dealt him to the Nuggets in December 2006.
The two-time MVP of the All-Star game beat McGrady by 10,410 votes for the second guard spot and will make his ninth appearance on Feb. 17 in New Orleans.
Garnett will appear in his 11th straight All-Star game, second among active players to Shaquille O’Neal’s 14, and ninth start. The longtime Minnesota Timberwolves star is a leading MVP candidate at midseason for the impact he has made on the Celtics, who own the NBA’s best record at 33-7 after winning just 24 games last season.
Iverson was more than 80,000 votes behind McGrady, who has struggled with injuries this season, when the final update was released two weeks ago. He ended up with 1,203,152 votes. McGrady finished with 1,192,742.
James, the MVP of the 2006 game and the leading vote-getter last season, was second overall with 2,108,831 votes. He said he never looks at getting selected as tiresome.
Notes
CAVALIERS: Just as Sasha Pavlovic was finding his game, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost him.
Pavlovic could miss up to two months with a sprained left foot, a blow to the defending Eastern Conference champions, who are playing their best ball this season.
Pavlovic, who has started 35 games this season, got hurt during the third quarter of Wednesday night’s 121-85 blowout win over Washington. He scored 13 points and had seven assists before going out.
“I’m disappointed for Sasha because he was starting to turn the corner and play well,” Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said Thursday night. “He was starting to feel comfortable and get his legs.”
The Cavaliers, who have won four straight games and are 11-2 since Christmas, said an MRI and CT scan revealed the injury to Pavlovic, who is averaging 7.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 38 games.
CLIPPERS: Los Angeles star Elton Brand is getting closer to playing again. Brand, who tore his left Achilles’ tendon last summer, was re-examined Thursday by Dr. Craig Morgan at Christiana Care’s Wilmington Hospital in Wilmington, Del., and cleared to begin extensive running and jumping exercises on the court The next step in the 28-year-old forward’s rehabilitation process will lead to his returning to team drills and eventual return to full practice.
