Brothers Gasol now rival all-stars
The opening tip of this year's NBA All-Star Game will be unique.
Barring an injury before the Feb. 15 event at Madison Square Garden, Bulls center Pau Gasol will be jumping against his younger brother, Marc, from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Both Gasol brothers - natives of Barcelona, Spain - were voted all-star starters by fans. This will be Pau's fifth all-star appearance and his first start. Marc is an all-star for the second time. The only other set of brothers to appear in the same NBA All-Star Game were Tom and Dick Van Arsdale in 1970 and '71.
"It's just a very special moment for my family," Pau Gasol said after the Bulls beat the Spurs. "It's just unreal. It's hard to believe. It's hard to digest. It's overwhelming. It's incredible. It's amazing.
"So we're very, very proud right now and very thankful to everyone that has voted for us and thankful to the many people who made us the players we are."
Gasol will be joined on the East squad by Cleveland's LeBron James, Washington's John Wall, Toronto's Kyle Lowry and New York's Carmelo Anthony.
Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose finished fifth and sixth, respectively, among East guards, while Joakim Noah was eighth in frontcourt voting. Reserves will be announced next week. All four TNT studio analysts picked Butler as an East reserve.
Besides Marc Gasol, the West starters are Chicago native Anthony Davis of New Orleans; the Clippers' Blake Griffin, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Golden State's Steph Curry, the overall vote leader. Bryant was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff Thursday, so there's a good chance he'll miss the All-Star Game. Houston's James Harden would be the obvious choice to replace him.
Pau Gasol is playing in the Eastern Conference for the first time this season, his 14th in the league. Heading into Thursday's action, he was averaging 18.7 points and 11.4 rebounds.
"I think he's earned it," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Gasol. "I think he's played at an extremely high level the entire season."
Pops happy Gasol is gone:
When Pau Gasol made the rounds as a free agent this summer, one of the team's he strongly considered was San Antonio.
"I'm thrilled he's in the East," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Thursday. "We tried to convince him to come to San Antonio and he chose Chicago. He made a good choice. He fits great. If we weren't going to get him, I certainly didn't want to see him on another team in the West, that's for sure.
"He's a really, really good basketball player. And he's smart as a whip. He understands what wins and loses. He's highly-skilled, he's team-oriented. He can play out on the floor, he can play on the block. He's a special guy, when you combine his skills and his intelligence. We would have loved to have him."
Duncan not listening:
When a reporter referenced a report that Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau had lost his team, San Antonio's Gregg Popovich ridiculed the idea and provided his own insight.
"Timmy (Duncan) stopped listening to me a long time ago," Popovich said. "I don't even coach him. You guys think I'm kidding. He just plays. I talk to him once in a while. But sometimes some guys don't want to hear it. As far as the team and being lost, that's not happening here."
Bull horns:
Tom Thibodeau was hopeful Mike Dunleavy (ankle) might be able to play Friday in Dallas. Dunleavy missed his 11th straight game Thursday, while Joakim Noah (ankle) has now missed four. ... Bulls.com writer Sam Smith began a question by mentioning the Spurs' 2013 Finals failure. Gregg Popovich responded (jokingly) with, "You're a mean man; you're a mean person. Why don't you start the sentence off with the (2014) championship?"