Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge rose again in the third round of the 2014 All-Star ballot returns, while Blazers guard Damian Lillard held his ground.
Aldridge placed fifth among Western Conference frontcourt players (up from sixth in the second round of voting and eighth in the first round of voting). Lillard finished eighth among Western Conference frontcourt players (same as the second round of voting, but up from 10th in the first round of voting).
Aldridge moved past San Antonio Spurs forward/center Tim Duncan. He is now about 96,000 votes shy of Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin, who currently occupies the third and final West frontcourt starting spot. Aldridge also trails Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love by roughly 78,000 votes too.
The first round of results were released four weeks ago. The second round of results were released two weeks ago.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant recently endorsed Lillard for the All-Star Game.
Here are the results from the third round of voting for both conferences.Frontcourt
Eastern Conference
Frontcourt
1. LeBron James (Mia) 1,076,063
2. Paul George (Ind) 899,671
3. Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 702,869
4. Roy Hibbert (Ind) 385,964
5. Chris Bosh (Mia) 304,986
6. Kevin Garnett (BKN) 164,021
7. Joakim Noah (Chi) 128,201
8. Andre Drummond (Det) 120,844
9. Tyson Chandler (NYK) 101,637
10. Jeff Green (Bos) 96,336
11. Luol Deng (Cle) 90,730
12. Carlos Boozer (Chi) 80,271
13. Paul Pierce (BKN) 72,581
14. David West (Ind) 61,612
15. Brook Lopez (BKN) 58,477Backcourt
1. Dwyane Wade (Mia) 718,109
2. Kyrie Irving (Cle) 652,522
3. Derrick Rose (Chi) 323,099
4. John Wall (Was) 278,516
5. Ray Allen (Mia) 190,086
6. Rajon Rondo (Bos) 133,448
7. Deron Williams (BKN) 95,309
8. George Hill (Ind) 89,428
9. Lance Stephenson (Ind) 77,364
10. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) 68,985Western Conference
Frontcourt
1. Kevin Durant (OKC) 1,054,209
2. Dwight Howard (Hou) 509,116
3. Blake Griffin (LAC) 500,964
4. Kevin Love (Min) 483,031
5. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 404,793
6. Tim Duncan (SAS) 385,342
7. Anthony Davis (NO) 223,956
8. Pau Gasol (LAL) 207,213
9. Andre Iguodala (GS) 192,616
10. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 156,792
11. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) 148,604
12. David Lee (GS) 141,509
13. Chandler Parsons (Hou) 135,387
14. Omer Asik (Hou) 101,372
15. Kawhi Leonard (SA) 91,859Backcourt
1. Kobe Bryant (LAL) 844,538
2. Stephen Curry (GS) 677,372
3. Chris Paul (LAC) 651,073
4. Jeremy Lin (Hou) 471,980
5. James Harden (Hou) 338,788
6. Russell Westbrook (OKC) 260,499
7. Tony Parker (SA) 195,328
8. Damian Lillard (Por) 162,363
9. Klay Thompson (GS) 108,404
10. Ricky Rubio (Min) 97,265
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.
If the voting closed today, the 2014 All-Star starters would be:
- West: Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard
- East: Kyrie Irving, Dwyane Wade, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James
Please follow the new official @Blazersedge Twitter right here.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter