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Marc Gasol made his final All-Star case with a career night

Marc Gasol shows off his peerless athleticism. (AP)
Marc Gasol shows off his peerless athleticism. (AP)

The NBA will announce its All-Star reserves on Thursday night, which essentially means that all coaches had sent their votes in by the time teams tipped off their games on Wednesday. Nevertheless, any All-Star candidate who had a big game could at least add to his case for making the squad when analysts suss out the deserving players and snubs. The votes may have been set, but public opinion remained in flux.

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Marc Gasol already had a strong case for his inclusion in February’s exhibition, but his performance in Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors should ensure either that no one quibbles with his nomination or that he’s named as one of the most glaring snubs. Gasol dominated to set a new career high with 42 points (14-of-25 FG, 5-of-10 3FG, 9-of-10 FT) to lead Memphis to a 101-99 win.


Gasol started the night extremely strong, scoring 16 points in the opening 3 1/2 minutes while taking all seven Grizzlies field-goal attempts in the first five minutes. Gasol tailed off as the game went on — who wouldn’t? — but he still managed to carry his team against a formidable opponent.

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Toronto performed ably despite playing without All-Star DeMar DeRozan for the second-straight game due to an ankle injury. Unfortunately, they were unable to generate more than 42 points in the second half and could not take advantage of a poor 14-point fourth for Memphis.

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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