Crawford ponders All-Star team after opponent's praise

ORLANDO -- After Jamal Crawford burned Boston on Friday despite Kendrick Perkins’ warning that Boston “put a hit out on him,” the Celtics center approached Crawford and offered praise, not trash talk.

“He said I should have been an All-Star,” Crawford said. “I was like, ‘Thanks, man.’ ”

Hawks coach Mike Woodson had lobbied for coaches to vote Crawford to the All-Star team along with Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Josh Smith. Johnson and Horford made it; Smith and Crawford didn’t.

Crawford was a long shot to make the team because he doesn’t start. But the comments from Perkins and Boston forward Paul Pierce, who also said Crawford should have made it, made Crawford think.

“There was so much hype about the sixth-man thing,” he said. “If I were starting, I think it would be looked at like [Cleveland’s] Mo Williams is the sidekick to LeBron James.”

But Crawford almost plays starter’s minutes (30.7 per game) and is second on the team in scoring at 17.7 points, so he could be considered a sidekick to Johnson.

“I know!” Crawford said. “That’s what I mean. But my peers think [he deserved to be an All-Star], so that’s all right.”