NBA Notes: All-Star Voting, Thunder, Chet Holmgren, Celtics, Anfernee Simons

All-Star Voting

The early fan returns are in, and the headliners are familiar.

Luka Doncic leads all players with 1,249,518 votes in the first All-Star fan ballot update, while Giannis Antetokounmpo tops the Eastern Conference, the league announced.

Joining Doncic among the Western Conference’s top five vote-getters are Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama.

In the East, Antetokounmpo is joined by Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, and Donovan Mitchell.

Fan voting accounts for 50 percent of the starter selection, with current players and a media panel each contributing 25 percent. All-Stars are being chosen without regard to position this season.

The game will be part of a new USA vs. World round-robin format on Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome, home of the Clippers.

Thunder

After stumbling through three losses in four games, the Thunder responded emphatically Sunday with a 129-104 rout of Philadelphia.

Defense set the tone. Oklahoma City held the Sixers to 42 percent shooting, forced 23 turnovers, and turned those mistakes into 31 points.

“We really cranked up the pressure and the help and did so with discipline,” coach Mark Daigneault told Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. “It wasn’t reckless. I thought we really tuned up there and made everything hard on them.”

Chet Holmgren was central to that effort, posting 29 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks after totaling 31 points across the previous three games.

“At the core, the guy is just a winning, tough player,” Daigneault said. “When he’s in that mode, it changes our team.”

Celtics

For Anfernee Simons, Sunday night in Portland came with a strange perspective.

Simons returned to the Moda Center wearing green after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Trail Blazers before being dealt to Boston in a summer cost-cutting move.

“It kind of felt a little weird,” Simons said, via Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. “Being a visitor, coming out of the other tunnel. But it was fun to see everybody and embrace the moment.”

Now a sixth man with the Celtics, Simons is averaging 12.8 points in 23.5 minutes per game, a shift from his full-time starting role in Portland.

“It’s a business at the end of the day,” he said. “You just have to enjoy each moment while you have it.”