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Clippers’ Blake Griffin voted a starter for NBA All-Star game

Clippers forward Blake Griffin was voted in as a starter for the fourth consecutive year, and it is his fifth time on the All-Star team during his five-year career.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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When the NBA on Thursday night announced the starters for the All-Star game, it wasn’t a surprise that Clippers forward Blake Griffin was voted in by the fans as a starter for the Western Conference and that Chris Paul was not voted in as a starter.

Throughout the balloting process, Griffin had been among the top three vote-getters for the frontcourt players, finishing third in votes (700,615) behind New Orleans’ Anthony Davis (1,369,911) and Memphis’ Marc Gasol (795,121). They will be the starting trio of frontcourt players for the West.

Griffin was voted in as a starter for the fourth consecutive year, and it is his fifth time being on the All-Star team during his five-year career.

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“It is a great honor to make the All-Star team,” Griffin said in a statement. “I want to thank all of the fans who voted for me as a starter.”

Paul had been in fourth place for guards in the West with 551,167 votes, finishing behind Stephen Curry (1,513,324 votes) of Golden State, Kobe Bryant (1,152,402) of the Lakers and James Harden (1,069,368) of Houston.

Paul, who is a seven-time All-Star, wasn’t a starter last year either. But Paul probably will be voted in as a reserve by the NBA coaches.

“I’d be shocked if he wasn’t” picked to be on the team, Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said Thursday night before the Clippers played Brooklyn.

Paul was averaging 17.6 points and 9.6 assists before the Clippers played the Nets.

Rivers said, “People don’t notice how good” Paul is “every night.”

“This is the one thing I’ll say on Chris’ behalf for All-Star: He’s the only point guard, him and [Russell] Westbrook, I’d say, they guard the best [point guard] every night,” Rivers said. “Those two guys do. A lot of the other guys don’t. That has always stood out to me with Chris. Chris not only does, but he guards them well.”

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who leads the NBA in rebounds (13.4) and is second in blocked shots (2.36) also wasn’t voted in as a frontcourt starter, finishing in 12th place with 117,816 votes.

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The All-Star game will be played Feb. 15 in New York at Madison Square Garden.

Rivers interested in Allen

Rivers said he has reached out to free agent Ray Allen to let the guard know the Clippers would like for him to play for Los Angeles.

“Yeah, I’m very interested,” Rivers said. “He’s good.”

But Rivers also knows he has competition for Allen, who played for Rivers in Boston when the Celtics won the 2008 NBA championship.

There was a report that when Cleveland forward LeBron James was in Miami recently rehabilitating his back and left knee, he met with Allen.

“Yeah, that’s going to be tough to beat,” Rivers said.

Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner

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