The Paul Millsap All-Star Push Is Well Underway

by Marcel Mutoni

Paul Millsap had another solid performance last night (27/14/5), as he helped the Utah Jazz crush listless New Orleans. The more he does this, the harder it becomes to explain why his name isn’t even on the All-Star ballots.

With a crowded field in the West, everyone (including Millsap himself) knows it’s going to be extremely tough to make the All-Star team.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Millsap’s All-Star case gets stronger almost by the game. He had 27 points and 14 rebounds for his 19th consecutive double-double Wednesday against New Orleans. That’s the longest double-double streak by any NBA player since Kevin Garnett and the longest streak by a Jazz player since John Stockton.

Millsap is now averaging 18.5 points and 11.7 rebounds in the 20 games since he replaced Boozer in the starting lineup. He played in the All-Star rookie/sophomore game the last two years, but harbored no illusions of returning for the All-Star Game itself.

“It’s tough to think like that when you’re coming off the bench,” Millsap said. “We never expected what happened to happen [with Boozer]. But it did happen and I’m starting right now and just trying to continue to build off that.”

Not to worry, Paul. You can be sure that you’ll get All-Star type money this summer, regardless of whether or not you make the trip to Phoenix next month.