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Thursday / March 28.
  • Melo ‘Honored’ to Be Named All-Star Starter

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    NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony will start for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game Feb. 26 in Orlando, but Amar’e Stoudemire needs the coaches to vote him in.

    Anthony, averaging 23.7 points, received 1,041,290 votes, second-highest among Eastern Conference forwards behind LeBron James.

    “I’m really excited about it,” Anthony said after scoring 26 points in the Knicks’ 105-102 loss to the Chicago Bulls Thursday at MSG. “It’s an honor, a blessing. My first one here in New York. And thanks to the fans for voting me in.

    “I appreciate that. It will be a good time, especially after the short season and the lockout, to give the fans a chance to come together for All-Star weekend and have a good time.”

    It is Anthony’s third consecutive start and fifth overall selection. He was chosen the previous four times with the Denver Nuggets before he was dealt to New York last February.

    Along with Anthony and James, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard will start for the East.

    Stoudemire, averaging 17.6 points and 8.0 rebounds, received the third-highest voting total among Eastern forwards with 383,734.

    “It’s no problem, man,” Stoudemire said. “Individual accolades normally comes with a team’s success and that’s the most important factor for myself, as far as for the team to be successful and everything else will fall in to place.”

    The Knicks have not had two All-Stars since 2001 when Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell played.

    For the West, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Andrew Bynum will start.

    Howard was the leading overall vote-getter with 1,600,390, while Bryant led the West with 1,555,479.

    Photo: Daily News

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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