The Boston Celtics are making moves in 2024 All-Star Game voting.
The NBA released its second batch of voting returns on Thursday, and all five Celtics starters are featured:
LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo lead their respective conferences in the second fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting presented by AT&T.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each.
Next fan update: 1/18. pic.twitter.com/0K23OtQRmY — NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 11, 2024
Jayson Tatum is the third-leading vote-getter among Eastern Conference frontcourt players and has the fourth-most votes of any player in the league, trailing only the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid. The latest batch of All-Star voting results comes a day after Tatum torched the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves in a thrilling overtime victory on Wednesday.
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Also starring in that game was Jaylen Brown, who ranks fifth among East frontcourt players after scoring 35 points against the Timberwolves. Only the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler stands between Tatum and Brown.
Right below Brown is Kristaps Porzingis. The Latvian center moved from eighth place among frontcourt players in the first round of voting returns to sixth place on Thursday, jumping the Heat’s Bam Adebayo and Brooklyn Nets’ Mikal Bridges.
Boston’s starting guards have also moved up since the opening voting results. Derrick White went from eighth to seventh and Jrue Holiday went from 10th to ninth among East backcourt players.
The Celtics (29-8) will face a couple of likely All-Stars in a showdown of the East’s top two teams on Thursday. They will visit Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and the Bucks (25-12) at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET.