Knight, Drummond in Rising Stars Challenge

By foxsports
Published

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons won't be represented in the 2013 NBA All-Star Game.

But they will have two players -- Brandon Knight and Andre Drummond -- on the undercard in Houston, the Rising Stars Challenge, featuring top rookies and second-year players.

Knight and Drummond were among the 18 players chosen Wednesday for the Feb. 15 game. Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal will again serve as general managers and draft teams during TNT's pregame show Feb. 7.

Cleveland All-Star Kyrie Irving, the MVP of last year's Rising Stars Challenge, will return to the game. Rookie stars Damian Lillard of Portland and Anthony Davis of New Orleans, the No. 1 pick in the draft, also were selected.

Irving, voted an Eastern Conference reserve by the conference's head coaches, scored 34 points last year in Orlando to lead Team Chuck over Team Shaq, 146-133. Cavaliers teammates Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller also were picked.

Knight, in his second year with the Pistons, has started every game this season and is averaging career-highs in points (14.0), rebounds (3.5) and assists (4.3).
 
Drummond, picked ninth overall in the 2012 NBA Draft, is averaging 7.6 rebounds and 7.6 points coming off the bench for the Pistons.

The remainder of the roster is: Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson (Golden State); Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Charlotte); Bradley Beal (Washington); Kenneth Faried (Denver); Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio); Chandler Parsons (Houston); Alexey Shved (Minnesota); and Nikola Vucevic (Orlando).