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Embiid falls short in bid to start All-Star Game

Joel Embiid is putting up crazy numbers in limited minutes.

The rookie center is averaging 19.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. He's the first player since Shaquille O'Neal with the Orlando Magic in the 1992-93 season to have totals that high through his first 29 career games.

The impressive thing is that Embiid has produced those numbers while playing just 25.4 minutes per game. He's starting to be recognized as one of the best young big men to play the game. And his elite play is a major reason the Sixers are 14-26 after winning seven of their last nine games.

However, he's not having a good enough season to be an Eastern Conference starter in the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 19 in New Orleans.

That's what the fans, media members and league players determined in the all-star voting announced Thursday night. Voting by conference coaches will determine whether Embiid will be an all-star reserve. The reserves will be announced next Thursday.

The Eastern Conference's frontcourt starters will be Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Chicago Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler. The other starters are Toronto Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan and Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving.

The Western Conference's starters include Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry, Houston Rockets point guard James Harden, Warriors small forward Kevin Durant, San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard, and New Orleans Pelicans power forward/center Anthony Davis.

The NBA has used fan voting to select All-Star Game starters since the 1974-75 season. Fans accounted for 50 percent of the voting this season while players and media members accounted for 25 percent apiece.

Embiid would have been an Eastern Conference starter if the fans were still the only ones with a vote.

He ranked third with 992,174 votes, behind James (1,893,751) and Antetokounmpo (1,604,463) in that category. Embiid, however, finished eighth (43 votes) in the players voting, while James (198), Antetokounmpo (162) and Butler (68) were the top three. And Embiid was fifth (six votes) in the media voting as James (96), Antetokounmpo (93) and Butler (70) also swept the top three spots.

As a result, Embiid finished fourth with a weighted score of 4.75.

"I freaking LOVE YALL," Embiid posted about the fan voting on Twitter. "We did it even tho it wasn't enough haha." He added the hashtags #TheProcess and #NoDate. The second hashtag was a reference to Embiid's "crush," the singer Rihanna, who is said to have told the center to ask again for a date when he is an all-star.

James received a score of 1.0 to make his 13th all-star appearance. Antetokounmpo received a 2.0, becoming the first Buck selected to the All-Star Game since Michael Redd during the 2003-04 season. Butler will make his third appearance after a 4.0.

Irving (1.5) will participate in his fourth game in six seasons, while DeRozan (2.75) is making his third appearance.

Curry (2.0), the two-time reigning league MVP, will start in four straight all-star contests. Harden (2.0) is headed to his fifth appearance.

Durant (1.0) earned his eighth selection. Leonard (2.5), the two-time reigning defensive player of the year, will make his second appearance. Davis (3.5) will tie Chris Paul for the most all-star selections for a New Orleans player with four.