The 2019 NBA All-Star Game is on tonight! It will be on at 8 p.m. ET on TNT. The teams aren’t East vs. West anymore. It will consist of two self-selected teams named after their captains, Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis. Bradley Beal is the Wizards’ lone representative in the game. He will play for Team LeBron. He comes into tonight’s game as the last reserve selected, the NBA’s equivalent of Mr. Irrelevant. Unlike most of the All-Stars however, Beal does come into the game playing for a team that is probably out of the playoff picture. This game is his equivalent of the NBA Finals. After tonight, there probably isn’t much to play for except for a high draft pick which the Wizards seem to be content with giving up on. The biggest question coming into tonight’s game regarding Beal is how much will he play? We can certainly expect him to play a fair number of minutes. But will he get opportunities to truly shine? Perhaps Beal publicly said that he “didn’t care” if he was picked last, but maybe that just adds fuel to the fire, right? We’ll see. Go Brad!<doc-sep>Happy Sunday, everybody. The Atlanta Hawks have been well-represented during NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte but, for the finale on Sunday evening, the All-Star Game itself will take place without any direct impact from members of the Hawks roster. Still, there is plenty of intrigue with the proceedings as the best players in the world gather on the court together and, as such, we wanted the opportunity to discuss what transpires together in this space. As always, be cordial to one another in the comments below and let’s enjoy the spectacle. Game Info Game Date/Time: Sunday, Feb. 17, 8:00 pm ET Location: Spectrum Center TV: TNT Streaming: TNT Overtime Starting Lineups Team LeBron G - James Harden G - Kyrie Irving F - LeBron James F - Kevin Durant F - Kawhi Leonard Team Giannis G - Stephen Curry G - Kemba Walker F - Paul George F - Giannis Antetokounmpo C - Joel Embiid<doc-sep>After weeks of fan voting and input from both players and media, the NBA finally produced on Thursday its list of All-Star starters for next month’s game in Charlotte. There were few surprises but some minor drama — Kemba Walker took the final guard spot in the East, and LeBron James earned a spot ahead of Anthony Davis despite James’ ongoing groin injury. Now we get down to the business of picking the reserves, a task that will be left to the NBA’s coaches. Both conferences offer challenges in making those picks — the East because there are not enough surefire stars, and the West because there are far too many. ALL-STAR 2019: SN's Sean Deveney explains his media ballot The full results will be announced next week, but here’s how our vote (three forwards, two guards and two wild cards) would shape up: East All-Star starters G: Kyrie Irving, Celtics G: Kemba Walker, Hornets F: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks F: Kawhi Leonard, Raptors F: Joel Embiid, Sixers East All-Star reserves F: Blake Griffin, Pistons Griffin has done typical Griffin things this season, but he’s just doing a bit more of those things — he’s averaging a career-high 26.3 points, shooting 36.6 percent on 3-pointers on a career-high 6.6 attempts and contributing as a rebounder (8.1) and a passer (5.3 assists, a team high). The Pistons seem to be a hopeless lot, but in the East, that still puts you into postseason contention. It also puts Griffin back into the All-Star game as a sure bet. F: Nikola Vucevic, Magic It’s always nice to come up with a career year just as free agency looms, and the player Orlando never seemed to want much is complicating the decision-making heading into the trade deadline and offseason. Vucevic is averaging 20.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists, making 1.2 3-pointers per game and shooting 38.1 percent from the arc as part of his 57.6 true-shooting percentage. Those are all career highs. Whether that will yield him a massive offseason payday will have to wait. In the meantime, he’s a clear East All-Star. F: Pascal Siakam, Raptors Having Leonard in the starting five is no surprise. But the Raptors are deserving of a second All-Star, and though Kyle Lowry is the likely choice, he has struggled to stay healthy and has just not produced All-Star numbers — 14.2 points on 41.6 percent shooting just can’t be covered up by his team-quarterback role and 9.4 assists. The nod here goes to Siakam, whose emergence as a consistent scorer and rebounder (plus his developing defensive presence) has made him the Raptor who’s had the second-best first half. That’s not to say he’s the team’s second-best player because that’s Lowry. But he’s been second-best to this point. G: Ben Simmons, Sixers Simmons gets the nod over Lowry and other East guards (there aren’t many) because, no matter how little you think of his jump shot, he has the ability to control the game for the Sixers and has continued to develop as both a playmaker and game manager. He takes the shots he can make (57.8 percent from the field), scoring 16.6 per game with 9.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists. G: Bradley Beal, Wizards This spot would have gone to Victor Oladipo, and it would be the right thing for the coaches to vote Oladipo in and allow commissioner Adam Silver to name a replacement. With Oladipo out for the year, however, Beal should be a lock (and probably already was). Washington is seven games under .500, but Beal (24.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists) has been keeping the team afloat in the sad-sack race for the East playoffs. WC: Khris Middleton, Bucks Milwaukee should have a second All-Star, just as Toronto should. The only question is whether that guy is Middleton or point guard Eric Bledsoe. Neither has had the kind of first half that screams "All-Star!" but each has been critical to the Bucks’ ascension in the East. Bledsoe has been more consistent, but he has struggled as a perimeter shooter. Middleton had a very good start, but he has been wildly inconsistent since. On balance, Middleton comes out as the Bucks’ No. 2 option, with 17.3 points per game while averaging 4.1 assists and playing very good defense. Milwaukee fans have come to dread the extended 4-for-16 3-point slumps (like the one he’s in over his last four games), but Middleton’s 3-point percentage remains solid at 37.5 percent. WC: D’Angelo Russell, Nets The expectation will be that the coaches vote in Jimmy Butler as a reserve, but there are a few problems with that. First, the Sixers with three All-Stars? Seems excessive for a good-not-great East bunch. Second, Butler spent the first 13 games of the season in Minnesota (yes, the Western Conference) tormenting his former franchise and its coaches. Perhaps the coaches should lodge a protest vote. Third, Russell deserves a spot, and the surging Nets deserve an All-Star. They’re 18-5 since their 8-18 start, and Russell has been the driving force, with career highs in points (19.3), assist percentage (38.1) and true shooting percentage (53.4). He could prove to be the last guy off the roster, but it’d be an injustice. West All-Star starters G: Stephen Curry, Warriors G: James Harden, Rockets F: LeBron James, Lakers F: Paul George, Thunder F: Kevin Durant, Warriors West All-Star reserves F: Anthony Davis, Pelicans Davis should have been a starter considering the kind of numbers he’s putting up (29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 50.8 percent shooting and his usual defensive presence). Throw in James’ extensive list of missed games, and Davis should have bumped him from the first five. F: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets It says something about the forwards in the West when Jokic comes in No. 5 in both the player and media voting, while averaging 19.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.7 assists and shooting 50.4 percent for the No. 2 seed in the conference. But after Davis, Jokic is the biggest lock to earn a reserve spot, which would be his first All-Star appearance. F: Rudy Gobert, Jazz Utah got off to a rough start for a few reasons — stagnation after last year’s terrific finish, a handful of free agents getting good summer payouts, a brutal early schedule and some adjustments from second-year star Donovan Mitchell. But Gobert was not one of the reasons. He is having the best season of his six-year career, and his 14.9 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists are all career highs as he has chipped in more offensively. He is still the most imposing defensive presence in the league, and as the Jazz have gotten things turned around, there should be no doubt that Gobert deserves a reserve spot. G: Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers Lillard’s numbers have mostly been a repeat of what he posted last season, except that he is attacking the basket slightly more and down a bit in 3-point attempts. Portland is on pace to finish with just about the same number of wins (49) as last year, and currently holds the No. 4 spot in the West. Everything is on track, then, for Lillard to again punch his All-Star card. G: Russell Westbrook, Thunder We’ve all swallowed hard on some very, very inefficient production from Westbrook in the past and still awarded him All-Star spots, All-NBA honors and even an MVP. But this would be especially tough — with his free-throw woes, Westbrook is carrying a true-shooting percentage of 48.0, worst of his career and wretched for anyone in the modern NBA. Still, he is the fulcrum of the Thunder offensively, leads the NBA in assists and is sixth in the conference in rebounding. If Oklahoma City was hovering around .500 and out of the postseason mix, Westbrook would be out. But the Thunder are No. 3 in the West, and that’s a factor. WC: Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves The tumult in Minnesota took its toll on everyone on the roster, but Towns was near the top of that list.<doc-sep>
The 2019 NBA All-Star game, which will pit teams captained by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, takes place on Sunday, February 17, 2019 (2/17/19) at 8 p.m. Eastern at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Catch the game for free with a trial of Fubo.tv. Here’s what you need to know: What: NBA All-Star Game When: Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 Time: 8 p.m. Eastern TV: TNT Channel finder: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish Livestream: fuboTV (free trial), TNT Line: Team LeBron -5.5 (via FanDuel) Here’s how the rosters shook out: Team LeBron: Starters: LeBron James (Lakers), Kevin Durant (Warriors), Kyrie Irving (Celtics), Kawhi Leonard (Raptors), James Harden (Rockets). Reserves: Anthony Davis (Pelicans), Klay Thompson (Warriors), Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers), Ben Simmons (Sixers), LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs), Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves), Bradley Beal (Wizards), Dwyane Wade (Heat). Team Giannis: Starters: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Stephen Curry (Warriors), Joel Embiid (Sixers), Paul George (Thunder), Kemba Walker (Hornets). Reserves: Khris Middleton (Bucks), Nikola Jokic (Nuggets), Russell Westbrook (Thunder), Blake Griffin (Pistons), D’Angelo Russell (Nets), Nikola Vucevic (Magic), Kyle Lowry (Raptors), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas). The captains selected their teams on Thursday, February 7 (2/7/19). The selection process went as follows; each captain selected the 10 starters in the first round, the 14 reserves in the second round, and Russell Westbrook and Dwyane Wade in the third round. Team LeBron had the first pick in the first and third rounds, and Team Giannis hadthe first pick in the second round. James managed to make a trade, convincing Antetokounmpo to swap Westbrook for Simmons — and give the Bucks' star the chance to have Westbrook and Embiid together, as he said he wanted. The NBA signed off on the trade. (The AP contributed to this report.)