Official 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie teams announced

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards have been unanimously selected to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today. Ball, the 2020-21 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, and Edwards received NBA All-Rookie First Team votes on all 99 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Joining Ball and Edwards (198 total points each) on the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team are Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton (197 points; 98 First Team votes), Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bey (162 points; 63 First Team votes) and Houston Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate (154 points; 57 First Team votes).

Ball led first-year NBA players in assists (6.1 apg) and steals (1.59 spg) and ranked second in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). He won the first three Kia NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards. Edwards, the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, averaged a rookie-high 19.3 points per game. He was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month in each of the final three months of the season.

Haliburton, who won the first two Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards, ranked third among rookies in scoring (13.0 ppg) and second in assists (5.3 apg). Bey, the 19th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, made a rookie-leading 175 three-pointers and was named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 8. Tate, who was not selected in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds with the Rockets after playing last season for the Sydney Kings in Australia’s National Basketball League.

The 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley (148 points), Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (88), Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (71), Cleveland Cavaliers guard-forward Isaac Okoro (53) and Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (50).

The media voting panel selected five players for the NBA All-Rookie First Team and five players for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at any position. Players received two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote.

Pacers break losing streak with win over Pistons

It’s been a little while, but the Pacers are back in the win column. Via the Indianapolis Star:

It didn’t matter it was against the previously 6-18 Detroit Pistons. Nate Bjorkgren’s Pacers would have taken a win against anyone, in the middle of their longest losing streak since a first-round sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat in Orlando last summer.

In the middle of Indiana’s three-game trip, and on the back-end of a back-to-back, the Pacers recovered from the kind of slow start that has plagued them of late to knock off the Pistons 111-95 on the heels of big games from their three stars.

All three just missed the mark on double-doubles: Domantas Sabonis finished with a game-high 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting, including 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, to go with eight rebounds and eight assists. Malcolm Brogdon followed with 18 points and nine rebounds while also adding a pair of 3s. Myles Turner finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, coming off a three-point, three-rebound game in Wednesday’s loss to Brooklyn.

A bright spot for Detriot in the loss was the play of undersized 6-foot-8 center Isaiah Stewart, who shot 8 of 9 for 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals.