Lillard and Cousins both left out for the West…
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The reserves for the NBA All-Star Game 2015 have been announced with Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague all receiving their first call-ups.
West Reserves: Klay Thompson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul.
East Reserves: Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
The biggest snubs for the roster included Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins who is just one of three players in the league this season to average better than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game along with Anthony Davis and LaMarcus Aldridge.
Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard also missed out in the packed West, with the Portland Police taking to Twitter to support him.
We may have to open a robbery investigation into how @Dame_Lillard of our @trailblazers was left off the #NBAAllStarNYC roster. #VoteLillard
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) January 30, 2015
While Lillard has arguably had the bigger impact this season, Cousins was left out to Durant who has only played in 21 of the Thunder’s first 46 games of the season due to injury.
TNT’s Charles Barkley agreed with the frustration over the pick after insisting that he “loves Durant, but he hasn’t played enough games” and called out Lillard’s omission in particular.
There was also some controversy with the omissions in the East, but generally speaking, it was what was expected although it still may change given that Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade has been ruled out for up to a fortnight with a hamstring strain.
Nevertheless, it was refreshing to see three of the Atlanta Hawks team that is leading the charge in the East make the team, while Butler will relish his first taste of All-Star weekend.
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