(AP)

Three 76ers made the NBA All-Star Game ballot, which was released Friday.

Evan Turner (backcourt) and Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes (frontcourt) represent the Sixers on the Eastern Conference ballot. Rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams did not make the cut.

Though it’s early in the season – nine games in, with Friday’s in Atlanta representing the 10^th – Turner stands the best chance of any of the Sixers to make the All-Star team. The fourth-year swingman, who’s never made the All-Star Game, is having a career year with averages of 23.0 points and 6.5 rebounds on 49-percent shooting.

Earlier this week, Turner said he has not been consumed with thoughts pertaining to the All-Star Game.

“Whether I make it or not, situations like this give me confidence,” Turner said. “You know when you know, you know? Whether I make it, I am how good I can be, like I’ve been saying. I’m just going to let it all play out.”

(Associated Press)

Moments before Jrue Holiday talked to reporters Thursday about making the All-Star Game, Andrew Bynum – the guy everyone expected to put up All-Star numbers – Velcro'd his way into a right knee brace in order to launch his shooting workout.

Talk about dichotomy.

Holiday was all smiles as he addressed the topic, of earning an all-star nod for the first time in his career. And, between questions about his trip next month to Houston, Holiday was asked about how different his season would've gone had Bynum been able to run alongside him.

“Maybe my assists would've went up and my scoring would've went down,” said Holiday, the only player in the NBA averaging at least 19 points and nine assists per game. “He attracts so much attention inside, offensively and defensively. He's, like, eight feet tall. It's not like you can take your eyes off of him. I really think my assists would go up and my points would go down.”

But would Sixers coach Doug Collins have been less likely to have put the keys to the Sixers' car, so to speak, in your hands? Maybe it would've been more of a shared role between the two?

“I don't think that would've changed,” Holiday said. “Me and Andrew would definitely have to be on the same page to where we have the point guard-big man connection.”

When Bynum eventually returns (and the injured center said he hopes it's sometime either before or after Holiday's trip to Houston), Holiday said he doesn't anticipate any sort of lag on the court. Even though the Sixers haven't had too many opportunities to work out with Bynum, who does most of his shooting on the side after practice, Holiday said the chemistry between he and Bynum is strong.

“I see him every day. He's a good guy to talk to,” Holiday said. “He's actually pretty funny. Easy to talk to, pretty sarcastic. My type of personality and a guy I can really connect with.”

As for Bynum's workout Friday, he didn't look at all hindered by the right knee brace. He told me that it's more for additional support than anything else. Bynum worked on a couple moves, namely taking passes in the chest from 10 feet away and working on one-dribble, turnaround shots in the paint. He tried his hand at bank shots from about the same distance. His touch looked solid.

(Associated Press)

Jrue Holiday is an All-Star.

The Sixers point guard was selected Thursday by a vote of Eastern Conference coaches to be a reserve for the NBA’s All-Star Game, to be played Feb. 17 in Houston. 

It’s Holiday’s first selection, though he played in the Rookie Challenge in 2011 as a second-year guy the same weekend as the All-Star Game. It’s also the second straight year the Sixers will have a representative in the All-Star Game, with Andre Iguodala making it a year ago.

“It shows you can really play,” Holiday said the other day, of the potential of getting picked. “Not too many people get to be all-stars. It’s huge to get recognized in that way and for a few people to think of me as one of the best in the game this year is great.”

A fourth-year guard, Holiday is averaging 19.0 points and 9.0 assists for the Sixers. Validating Holiday’s status as an All-Star pick: He’s the only player in the league averaging at least 19/9, and the Sixers (17-25) were winless in the four games he missed in December with a left foot injury.

This week, Holiday said he didn’t want to get too amped up for the possibility of getting chosen.

“I guess I’m the type where I don’t get excited until it’s the actual day, the actual night when it’s going to come,” he said. “My fiancée just keeps telling me, ‘I have a feeling.’ Come Thursday, I might be a little on the edge of my seat.”

The rest of the East reserves are: Chicago's Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, Miami's Chris Bosh, Indiana's Paul George and  New York's Tyson Chandler.

(Associated Press)

Eastern Conference coaches have until noon Wednesday to cast their votes, determining whether 76ers point guard Jrue Holiday is deserving of his first all-star bid.

The number is his favor are that the Sixers were 0-4 without him in December, when he missed time with a left foot injury, and 17-19 with him -- right around where they expected to be. He's also the only player in the league averaging at least 19 points and 9 assists.

Not even stud point guards like Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul, Greivis Vasquez, Russell Westbrook or Deron Williams can say that.

What goes against Holiday, though, is the Sixers' record. It's something Sixers coach Doug Collins said he looks at when deciding who should represent a conference among the all-star reserves.

So what do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, email me (cvito@delcotimes.com) or Tweet them to me (@ChrisVito) to start a dialogue.