Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge, G Damian Lillard Rise In Second 2014 All-Star Returns

Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge and guard Damian Lillard both rose up the ranks during the second round of 2014 All-Star ballot returns, which were released by the NBA on Thursday.

Aldridge placed sixth among Western Conference frontcourt players (up from eighth); Lillard placed eighth among Western Conference backcourt players (up from 10th). The top three frontcourt players and the top two backcourt players from each conference, as voted by the fans, will start in the 2014 All-Star Game, which is set for New Orleans on Feb. 16.

Aldridge moved past Los Angeles Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol and New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis. Lillard moved past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio and Lakers guard Steve Nash.

The first round of results were released two weeks ago.

Here are the results from the first round of voting for both conferences.

Western Conference

Frontcourt

1. Kevin Durant (OKC) 850,728
2. Dwight Howard (Hou) 408,623
3. Blake Griffin (LAC) 399,357
4. Kevin Love (Min) 377,941
5. Tim Duncan (SA) 312,809
6. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 282,613
7. Anthony Davis (NO) 188,589
8. Pau Gasol (LAL) 177,883
9. Andre Iguodala (GS) 145,089
10. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 126,025
11. Chandler Parsons (Hou) 106,369
12. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) 99,903
13. David Lee (GS) 89,858
14. Omer Asik (Hou) 79,591
15. Kawhi Leonard (SA) 76,110

Backcourt

1. Kobe Bryant (LAL) 723,031
2. Chris Paul (LAC) 533,647
3. Stephen Curry (GS) 481,698
4. Jeremy Lin (Hou) 358,725
5. James Harden (Hou) 270,476
6. Russell Westbrook (OKC) 216,070
7. Tony Parker (SA) 158,329
8. Damian Lillard (Por) 105,880
9. Ricky Rubio (Min) 81,829
10. Steve Nash (LAL) 81,377

Eastern Conference

Frontcourt

1. LeBron James (Mia) 854,105
2. Paul George (Ind) 712,808
3. Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 580,795
4. Roy Hibbert (Ind) 304,829
5. Chris Bosh (Mia) 222,861
6. Kevin Garnett (BKN) 137,520
7. Joakim Noah (Chi) 101,308
8. Andre Drummond (Det) 91,132
9. Jeff Green (Bos) 78,693
10. Tyson Chandler (NYK) 77,496
11. Luol Deng (Chi) 73,418
12. Carlos Boozer (Chi) 64,861
13. Paul Pierce (BKN) 60,541
14. Brook Lopez (BKN) 52,907
15. Josh Smith (Det) 46,836

Backcourt

1. Dwyane Wade (Mia) 565,455
2. Kyrie Irving (Cle) 524,000
3. Derrick Rose (Chi) 299,950
4. John Wall (Was) 210,988
5. Ray Allen (Mia) 143,714
6. Rajon Rondo (Bos) 111,335
7. Deron Williams (BKN) 74,047
8. George Hill (Ind) 66,030
9. Lance Stephenson (Ind) 50,444
10. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) 48,744

Fans pick the starters; coaches pick the reserves. Aldridge, of course, made the squad as a reserve the last two seasons. Remember: the "guard," "forward" and "center" designations were removed from the ballot in 2013 in favor of broader "frontcourt" and "backcourt" categories.

Last year, Aldridge ranked 10th among Western Conference frontcourt players in the first round of fan ballot results.

If the voting closed today, the 2014 All-Star starters would be:

• West: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard
• East: Kyrie Irving, Dwyane Wade, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter