Curry, James unanimous All-NBA picks – WFMZ Allentown
League MVP Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers were unanimous selections for the All-NBA First Team revealed Thursday.
Curry and James received votes for the first team on all 129 ballots, the ninth time in 12 seasons James was All-NBA First Team, tying Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson for the third most all time. It’s the first All-NBA First Team selection for Curry.
MVP runner-up James Harden of the Houston Rockets, Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans and Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies round out the first team. Harden is making a second straight appearance on the first team. Davis (119 votes) and Gasol (68 votes) debut on the first team.
Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trail Blazers, Pau Gasol of the Chicago Bulls and center DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings were the All-NBA Second Team picks.
The All-NBA Third Team was Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving, Clippers forwards Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan and the San Antonio Spurs veteran forward Tim Duncan.
Media voted for All-NBA teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis. Voters were asked to select two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly. Gasol and Jordan were classified as centers.
Curry led the Warriors to a franchise-record 67 wins, averaging 23.8 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.7 assists (sixth), a career-high 2.04 steals (fourth) and 4.3 rebounds. He made 286 3-pointers, breaking his own NBA record of 272 set in 2012-13. Curry, the leading vote-getter in NBA All-Star balloting, shot 48.7 percent from the field, ranked fourth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (44.3) and led the NBA in free throw percentage (91.4).
James ranked third in the NBA in scoring (25.3 points per game) and seventh in assists (7.4 apg) as Cleveland finished with the second-best record (53-29) in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers were 50-19 in the 69 games James played and 3-10 in the 13 games he did not. The 11-time All-Star was one of only three players to tally 1,700 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds and 100 steals (Harden, Westbrook).
Harden was second to Curry in scoring (27.4 ppg) and ninth in assists (7.0 apg) while leading the Rockets to 56 wins and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. He led the NBA in 40-point games (10) and 30-point games (35), and his four triple-doubles were the most by a Rocket since Hakeem Olajuwon posted four in 1989-90. Harden led the NBA in free throws made (715) and attempted (824).
Davis ranked first in the league in blocks (2.94 bpg), fourth in scoring (24.4 ppg), seventh in field goal percentage (53.5) and eighth in rebounding (10.2 rpg). Davis helped the Pelicans make the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Gasol, who is entering free agency in July, averaged a career-best 17.4 points to go with 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the 55-win Grizzlies. He scored 30-plus points five times after doing so just once in his first six seasons.
2014-15 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
Position Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points
Forward LeBron James, Cleveland (129) 645
Forward/Center Anthony Davis, New Orleans (119) 625
Center Marc Gasol, Memphis (65) 453
Guard Stephen Curry, Golden State (129) 645
Guard James Harden, Houston (125) 637
2014-15 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM
Position Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points
Forward/Center LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland (13) 390
Center/Forward DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento (18) 220
Center Pau Gasol, Chicago (15) 242
Guard Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City (10) 397
Guard Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers (1) 335
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