Goran Dragic Makes First All-Star Team As Kevin Love's Injury Replacement
Goran Dragic was named to his first All-Star team as Kevin Love's replacement on Team LeBron, the NBA announced Thursday.
Dragic received the most votes from the coaches among players who had not already been selected to the game.
Love suffered a non-displaced fracture in the fifth metacarpal in his left hand Tuesday and will reportedly miss six to eight weeks. This was the fifth time in Love's career he was picked for the All-Star Game.
Dragic will join Joel Embiid, Victor Oladipo, Kristaps Porzingis, Bradley Beal and Karl-Anthony Towns as first-time All-Stars this season.
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Dragic is averaging 17 points and 4.8 assists for the Heat, who are 29-22 and fourth in the East.
Although this is Dragic's first All-Star appearance, he was named to the All-NBA third team for the 2013-14 season and also won Most Improved Player that season after averaging 20.3 points and 5.9 assists.
Love is the third All-Star who has been pulled from the game because of injury. DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall were previously taken out of the Feb. 18 game due to injuries and replaced by Paul George and Andre Drummond, respectively. All three players were selected by LeBron James in the first-ever All-Star draft.