MIAMI, Feb. 1 – The NBA announced today that HEAT guard Goran Dragić has been named by Commissioner Adam Silver to the NBA All-Star Team in replacement of injured Kevin Love. Dragić, who will be making his first NBA All-Star appearance, will be the eighth player in franchise history to earn NBA All-Star honors. The 67th NBA All-Star Game, which will air live on TNT and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages, will be played at the Staples Center on Sunday, February 18, in Los Angeles.
Dragić, a two-time Eastern Conference Player of the Week honoree and just one of only four players to earn the award multiple times this season, has appeared in 46 games (all starts) this season averaging a team-high 17.0 points and a team-high 4.8 assists while shooting 43.7 percent from the field. He has led the team in assists 21 times and in scoring on 18 occasions, both team-highs. He currently leads the fourth-seeded HEAT in points (784), assists (220), field goals made (293) and free throws made (131). Dragić began the season scoring at least 17 points in eight consecutive games, the third-longest streak of 17-plus points to start a season in HEAT history, behind only LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. He also connected on at least one three-point field goal in each of the first 14 games of the season, marking the longest such stretch to start a season in his career. He dished out his 1,000th assist as a member of the HEAT on October 28, doing so in his 176th game with Miami, becoming the fifth-fastest player in team history to achieve the feat, only Tim Hardaway (112), Sherman Douglas (126), LeBron James (151) and Dwyane Wade (170) have done so quicker. He posted a team-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds at Phoenix on November 8, becoming one of seven different HEAT players to score in double-figures and grab at least six rebounds in the same game, the first time that has been achieved in team history. On November 22, he scored a game-high 27 points in a, 104-98, win vs. Boston, helping to snap the Celtics’ 16-game winning streak, and he also paired with Dion Waiters (26 points) in the game to become the first pair of HEAT starting backcourt teammates to each post at least 26 points in the same game since November 20, 2009. In his next game on November 24 at Minnesota, he connected on five three-point field goals, and paired with Wayne Ellington’s six made from downtown, they became just the 14th pair of Miami teammates to each hit at least five treys in the same game. His 29 made three-point field goals in November helped push Miami’s total to 182 for the month, the most for any month in franchise history. On January 10 at Indiana, Dragić scored a team-high 20 points as all eight players in the game scored at least eight points apiece, marking just the fourth time in HEAT history that each player that entered the game scored at least eight points.