The NBA announced Thursday guard Kyle Lowry has been named as a reserve to the Eastern Conference team for the 2017 All-Star Game. Lowry will make his third consecutive NBA All-Star Game appearance after being voted a starter the previous two years.
Lowry will join starter DeMar DeRozan on the East squad. It will mark the second straight year both DeRozan and Lowry have been selected to the NBA All-Star Game and third time in franchise history the Raptors will have two players participate in the game. Toronto also had two players in the 2001 NBA All-Star Game when Vince Carter was joined by Antonio Davis, who was named by the League as an injury replacement.
The 14 reserves were chosen by the 30 NBA head coaches, who were asked to vote for seven players in their respective conferences -- two guards, three frontcourt players and two additional players at any position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.
Lowry is averaging career highs in points (22.4) and rebounds (4.8) through 45 games played. He ranks fourth in the NBA in three pointers made (143) and 10th with a .422 three-point field goal percentage. Lowry set the franchise- record for three pointers made in a single month with 59 in December.
Lowry is the only player in the Eastern Conference averaging 20.0 points and 6.0 assists, while shooting better than 40 per cent from three-point range this season. He has scored 20-or-more points 27 times, including a season-high 41 points January 1 at the Los Angeles Lakers.
A product of Villanova in his 11th season, Lowry was selected 24th overall by Memphis in the 2006 NBA Draft. Toronto acquired Lowry from Houston on July 11, 2012. In July 2015, Lowry signed a multi-year contract with the Raptors. He owns career averages of 14.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 30.8 minutes in 698 games.