NEW YORK-. Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks after all he will be back in the Stars game and Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors will compete for the first time in the flagship event of the NBA.
Commissioner Adam Silver selected Young and Barnes as injury replacements Tuesday as part of the Eastern Conference roster for the Feb. 18 game in Indianapolis. Young — who was second in the fan vote to determine All-Star starters — will be in the game for the third time. Barnes will make his debut.
Young and Barnes replace Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Julius Randle of the New York Knicks. Both will miss the game due to injury. Embiid underwent knee surgery on Tuesday and Randle is dealing with a dislocated shoulder. According to NBA rules, the commissioner selects injury replacements for the All-Star Game.
Embiid will be evaluated in four weeks after undergoing surgery on Tuesday to resolve a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee.
The 76ers did not give a timetable for Embiid to return.
But there’s no doubt, given the extent of the injury, Embiid will miss significant time.
Embiid, who has two NBA scoring titles, injured his knee Tuesday in the loss to Golden State. He had already had knee problems during the campaign.
While healthy, Embiid remains in shape to win his second Most Valuable Player award. He is the leading scorer with 35.3 points per game and averages 11.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He scored a franchise-record 70 points as well as 18 rebounds on January 22 in a 133-124 victory over San Antonio.
The 76ers are 4-11 without him after Monday’s loss to Dallas. They have lost six of their last seven.
Young entered the day eighth in scoring leaders averaging 27.3 points per game and second in assists with a career-high 10.9 per game. Barnes, the 2022 Rookie of the Year, is averaging a career-high 20.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals.
Source: AP
