Joe Johnson will have to wait another week to see if he is named to the NBA All-Star team.
The Hawks guard was not one of the five Eastern Conference starters, as determined by fan voting, announced by the league Thursday night. Johnson is a strong candidate to be named to his sixth consecutive All-Star team when the reserves are announced Feb. 9.
Johnson has made every All-Star team since 2007. He leads the Hawks in scoring at 19.1 points per game, 16th in the league. Johnson is seventh on the Hawks’ all-time scoring list. He had scored 9,898 points playing for the Hawks entering Thursday night’s game.
The starting guards for the Eastern Conference are Derrick Rose (Bulls) and Dwyane Wade (Heat). Leading vote getter Dwight Howard (Magic), a Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy product, will start at center. The other East starters are LeBron James (Heat) and Carmelo Anthony (Knicks).
Four of the five starters for the Western Conference play in Los Angeles. The starters are guards Kobe Bryant (Lakers) and Chris Paul (Clippers), forwards Kevin Durant (Thunder) and Blake Griffin (Clippers) and center Andrew Bynum (Lakers).
The 2012 All-Star Game will be played Feb. 26 at Orlando’s Amway Center.
Johnson has stepped up his game since the Hawks lost two-time All-Star Al Horford for at least the regular season with a torn left pectoral muscle. Entering Thursday’s game, the Hawks were 9-2 without Horford, with Johnson averaging 21.6 points.
“I think he’s just playing better,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said of Johnson since the loss of Horford. “I don’t think he’s been different. He’s still as aggressive as he’s been on both ends of the floor. Obviously with Al out, Joe is always the first option to most everything we run. Next is Josh [Smith]. But what he’s done, he’s just elevated his game.”
The Hawks are 11-1 when Johnson scores 20 or more points, something he has done in eight of the past 11 games.
Smith could be in contention to make his first All-Star team. He is second on the team and 35th in the NBA in scoring at 15.4 points per game. He is tied for seventh in blocks (2.0) and tied for 18th in rebounds (9.1). Smith’s nine double-doubles are tied for 12th.
“He has learned to affect the game at both ends of the floor,” Drew said of Smith. “He is an impactful player. He is a guy you don’t have to run plays for, but yet at the end of the night his numbers are really good. He can defend four positions, sometimes five. ... Without his energy and presence on the floor we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
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