duncan228
01-22-2010, 12:52 AM
With late surge, Duncan voted All-Star starter (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/With_late_surge_Duncan_voted_All-Star_starter.html)
Mike Monroe
He's still one point shy of 20,000 career points, but Tim Duncan was 63,691 votes ahead of recent 20,000-point club inductee Dirk Nowitzki in balloting for a starting forward spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.
Duncan will make the 11th consecutive All-Star start of his 13-year career after a late surge in fan voting overcame a lead of 50,000 votes Dallas' Nowitzki held over him when preliminary vote totals were announced two weeks ago.
No All-Star Game was played in the lockout season, 1998-99. This year's game will be played Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
Denver's Carmelo Anthony, the league's top scorer this season at 29.8 points per game, was the top vote-getter among Western forwards, with 2,137,560 votes. Duncan finished with 1,156,696 votes, Nowitzki with 1,093,005.
Duncan is averaging 19.8 points and 10.4 rebounds and is shooting 54.6 percent from the field. The 33-year-old two-time league MVP also averages 1.87 blocks per game, ninth-best in the league.
The Spurs' Manu Ginobili was seventh and Tony Parker ninth among Western Conference guards. Antonio McDyess finished fifth among Western centers.
Rhythm missing: Since returning to the lineup in Monday's game in New Orleans, Spurs center Matt Bonner, who had made 41 of 91 3-point shots before suffering a broken bone in his right hand Dec. 19, has attempted only two 3-pointers and missed them both.
The right-handed Bonner, who's required to wear a protective glove on his shooting hand, said he is working to regain the rhythm he had established from long range before the injury.
“It takes time,” he said. “Obviously, missing a month where I can't use my shooting hand it's going to take a little time to get out there and back in my rhythm.”
Bonner has been able to work on his 3-point shots in practice for about two weeks, but he knows games are different.
“Obviously, I'm wearing a glove and that affects my touch and my feel on the ball,” Bonner said. “It's just a matter of gaining confidence with it on the court, in games, as well as in practice.”
Mike Monroe
He's still one point shy of 20,000 career points, but Tim Duncan was 63,691 votes ahead of recent 20,000-point club inductee Dirk Nowitzki in balloting for a starting forward spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.
Duncan will make the 11th consecutive All-Star start of his 13-year career after a late surge in fan voting overcame a lead of 50,000 votes Dallas' Nowitzki held over him when preliminary vote totals were announced two weeks ago.
No All-Star Game was played in the lockout season, 1998-99. This year's game will be played Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
Denver's Carmelo Anthony, the league's top scorer this season at 29.8 points per game, was the top vote-getter among Western forwards, with 2,137,560 votes. Duncan finished with 1,156,696 votes, Nowitzki with 1,093,005.
Duncan is averaging 19.8 points and 10.4 rebounds and is shooting 54.6 percent from the field. The 33-year-old two-time league MVP also averages 1.87 blocks per game, ninth-best in the league.
The Spurs' Manu Ginobili was seventh and Tony Parker ninth among Western Conference guards. Antonio McDyess finished fifth among Western centers.
Rhythm missing: Since returning to the lineup in Monday's game in New Orleans, Spurs center Matt Bonner, who had made 41 of 91 3-point shots before suffering a broken bone in his right hand Dec. 19, has attempted only two 3-pointers and missed them both.
The right-handed Bonner, who's required to wear a protective glove on his shooting hand, said he is working to regain the rhythm he had established from long range before the injury.
“It takes time,” he said. “Obviously, missing a month where I can't use my shooting hand it's going to take a little time to get out there and back in my rhythm.”
Bonner has been able to work on his 3-point shots in practice for about two weeks, but he knows games are different.
“Obviously, I'm wearing a glove and that affects my touch and my feel on the ball,” Bonner said. “It's just a matter of gaining confidence with it on the court, in games, as well as in practice.”