Anthony moves into starting spot

NEW YORK — New York forward Carmelo Anthony edged into a starting spot in Thursday’s latest voting update for the NBA All-Star Game while Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry paced the overall balloting. Anthony overtook Detroit’s Andre Drummond for the third and final Eastern Conference front-line starting position with 368,336 votes, 7,029 more than the Pistons standout with voting set to conclude Monday. Starters will be announced next Thursday for the East and West squads in the 65th NBA All-Star Game, which will be played Feb. 14 in Toronto, the Canadian city becoming the first non-US city to host the event. Reserve players selected by NBA coaches will be revealed on Jan. 28. Los Angeles Lakers playmaker Kobe Bryant, set to retire after this season, tops all vote-getters with 1,533,432 and is joined in the Western Conference front-court by Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant with 774,782 and Golden State’s Draymond Green, whose 499,947 kept him clinging to a 12,321-vote edge over San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard. For the two West backcourt spots, Golden State star and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Curry leads with 1,206,467 with Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook next at 609,901. Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers was a distant third at 410,284. Among East forwards, Cleveland superstar LeBron James led the way with 830,345 votes with Indiana’s Paul George second on 569,947 and Anthony next. Miami’s Dwyane Wade has 736,732 and Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, just back from an injury in last year’s NBA Finals, has 399,757 votes to lead East guards with Toronto’s Kyle Lowry next on 367,472. Drake, Kevin Hart to coach NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Drake is facing off against Kevin Hart on the court. The Canadian actor-rapper and the American actor-comedian will serve as the coaches for the Canada and USA teams at the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. The “Best I Ever Had“” singer’s team will include Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler, Drew and Jonathan Scott of “Property Brothers,” tennis player Milos Raonic, actor-singer Kris Wu and NBA TV analyst Rick Fox. The “Ride Along 2” star’s team will feature such celebrities as Anthony Anderson of “blackish,” “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan, Bryshere “Yazz” Gray of “Empire” and “America’s Got Talent” host Nick Cannon. The game will be held Feb. 12 at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. — AFP