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Thursday night has already been a big night for the Denver Nuggets and they have yet to even take the floor for their matchup against the Utah Jazz. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Nikola Jokic will be named an All-Star reserve when it is officially announced a little after 5 pm MDT. Brendan Vogt of DNVR Sports was first to report to the news officially.
No surprise here, but I’m told Nikola Jokić will be announced as an All-Star reserve tonight.
— Brendan Vogt (@BrendanVogt) January 30, 2020
Jokic was named a reserve along with Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, Rudy Gobert, Brandon Ingram, Donovan Mitchell, and Chris Paul from the Western Conference. The NBA also announced on Thursday a new format for this year’s All-Star game to honor Kobe Bryant.
New format starting with the 2020 NBA All-Star game: pic.twitter.com/EtMVCzGgwN
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 30, 2020
This will be Jokic’s second appearance in the All-Star game after playing in his first last season. In 47 games this season, Jokic is averaging team highs in points (19.8), rebounds (10.1), and assists (6.5) to go along with nine triple-doubles.
The All-Star game will take place on February 16th with tip-off set for 6 pm MDT on TNT. Before the game takes place, their will be an All-Star draft on February 6th, which is when Team LeBron and Team Giannis select their squads. That will start at 5 pm MDT on TNT.