For the second straight season, the Pistons will not have an All-Star.
Andre Drummond was not among the seven reserves from each conference named on Tuesday night. Coaches completed the voting for All-Star reserves and Drummond, who is having arguably the best season of his six-year career.
The snub dampens what has been a significant improvement for Drummond, a jump likely shaded by the Pistons’ recent skid, dropping eight of their last 10 games and managing just an 8-17 mark since their impressive 14-6 start.
Drummond is averaging 14.3 points, a league-best 15 rebounds and a career-high 3.9 assists. More noticeably, he’s hitting 63 percent on free throws, more than 23 percentage points higher than last season.
He won’t get to show the improvement among the other All-Stars, though.
The reserves are Kevin Love (Cleveland), Victor Oladipo (Indiana), Kyle Lowry (Toronto), Al Horford (Boston), Kristaps Porzingis (New York), John Wall (Washington) and Bradley Beal (Washington).
The starters from the Eastern Conference are LeBron James (Cleveland), DeMar DeRozan (Toronto), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia).
The All-Star Game will be Feb. 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The teams will be picked in a draft-style process, with James and the Warriors’ Steph Curry picking their 12-man teams, regardless of conference.
Drummond wasn’t among the top three vote-getters for the three starting spots in the frontcourt in combined voting from fans, media and players, revealed last week. That the coaches were the ones voting for the reserves seemed to help Drummond’s case for a spot.
“(Coaches) watch it with a lot more detail. His passing is excellent; he’s having a heck of a year,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said Sunday. “You’d hope the fans see it too. It’s evident to the coaches; it’s evident to our players.”
Tobias Harris, the Pistons’ leading scorer (18.1 points), also was a dark-horse candidate to be selected as a reserve, but the Pistons’ recent swoon.
“Tobias is having a heck of a year too,” Atkinson said. “They have two legitimate All-Star candidates.”
Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard