Matthew Dellavedova Replaces Injured Kelly Olynyk in 2015 Rising Stars Game
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova has been named the replacement for Boston Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk in this weekend's Rising Stars Challenge, head coach David Blatt announced Wednesday.
Chris Haynes of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer had the news:
Dellavedova, 24, is averaging 4.3 points and 2.8 assists per game in his second NBA season. He'll replace Olynyk among the second-year players after Olynyk was officially ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks and the Rising Stars Challenge earlier in the afternoon. Olynyk has been out of the lineup since Jan. 20 due to an ankle injury.
After three years of having former NBA greats draft teams fantasy-style, this year's Rising Stars Challenge will see players born inside the United States take on international players. Dellavedova, an Australian, will join the World side. Twelve sophomores have been chosen for the team overall, deviating from the previous norm of distributing first-year and second-year players evenly.
Dellavedova will help the Cavaliers extend their streak of having a representative in the Rising Stars Challenge to four years. Teammate Kyrie Irving was named the game MVP in 2012. Since the game's inception, the Cavaliers have had the most overall participants with 24.
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