On Thursday the LA Lakers iced the Miami Heat, leaving them in the cold with a 106-88 victory. Now LA leads the western conference by at least 2 games, while the SA Spurs trail closely behind. Who would have thought the Lakers would be doing so well this season, especially after all the talk about Kobe wanting a new team. I'm sure he's happy where he's at and is looking to win his 4th straight NBA championship.

With time winding down and the game tied, Baron Davis takes a fade-away jump-shot with 0.2 seconds left and gets nothing but net, making the warriors the 2nd western team to beat Boston this season. The warriors by far have been one of, if not the most exciting teams to watch these past couple years. It all began when they upset the #1 seed Dallas in last years playoffs, and happened again last night when they defeated the team with the best record in the NBA. I can't wait to see what they're going to do next, especially with the playoffs in the near future.

Failing to win it in 2007, Dwight Howard came back again this year with only one thing on his mind; winning the 2k8 dunk contest. Well, that's exactly what he did, as every dunk performed got him a perfect score. Every one of his dunks were unique, creative, and crowd-drawing, especially when he busted out his superman suit and threw the ball through the net. I don't think any of his dunks had been done before and he definitely stole the show. I'm glad Dwight brought a new life to this contest and can't wait to see what he will have planned for next year :D

          WEST                                EAST
1. Phoenix (36-15)                          1. Boston (39-9)
2. New Orleans (34-15)                    2. Detroit (37-13)
3. Dallas (34-16)                             3. Orlando (32-20)
4. LA Lakers (33-17)                        4. Cleveland (28-22)
5. Utah (33-19)                              5. Toronto (27-22)
6. San Antonio (32-17)                    6. Washington (24-26)
7. Denver (31-19)                           7. New Jersey (22-29)
8. Golden State (30-20)                   8. Atlanta (21-26)

Note the difference in record comparisons... one side is a lot easier to make the playoffs while the other side seems to be a 'fight 'till the death'.

That's right the big Shaq-Diesel was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion, as well as Marcus Banks this past Tuesday. Some Phoenix fans are scratching their heads as to whether or not this is was a good idea, especially since Phoenix has been known as a quick, fast-paced team. Now with shaq on the court, things will obviously slow down and their style of play will have to be altered. Other Suns fans feel it to be a great trade. I mean, who can stop Shaq when he is throwing elbows down in the paint? He will cause a double team to be drawn and give sharp-shooter Steve Nash an even better opportunity at nailing the 'trey'. Suns players are happy with the trade as well as Shaq,  looking to win his 5th NBA championship.

On February 1st, the Lakers negotiated with Memphis owner Chris Wallace and ended up trading his superstar Gasol for the Lakers Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, draft rights to Pau's brother, Marc, and 1 first round picks in 2008 and 2010. Was it worth it? LA fans seems to think so as they are lacking a good postman, while A. Bynum sits on the sidelines with his injury. When he comes back the Lakers will be able to run two seven-footers and 6'10" Lamar Odom as small forward. Whose gonna be able to contend against that? Did I mention superstar Kobe Bryant as the shooting guard along with sharp-shooter Derek Fisher running the point?

Yesterday, the Warriors picked up free agent Chris Webber, who supposedly has been taking some time off to be with his family. The veteran forward says he is excited to play for Golden State and that he will bring leadership and experience to the table, as well as making his teammates better players. Apparently it took a little convincing from his former coach, Don Nelson, and one of the Warriors owners, Chris Mullen, but all are excited to see him play again in the sunshine state.

1. 1997 - Kobe Bryant
2. 2000 - Vince Carter
3. 2001 - Desmond Mason
4. 2002 - J. Richardson
5.  2003 - J. Richardson
6. 2004 - Fred Jones
7. 2005 - Josh Smith
8. 2006 - Nate Robinson
9. 2007 - Gerald Green
10. 2008 - Who will it be?

The votes are in and the people have spoken. These are the 2008 starting lineup for the eastern and western all-stars.

            West                       East
1. Guard- Allen Iverson           1. Guard- Dwayne Wade
2. Guard- Kobe Bryant            2. Guard- Jason Kidd
3. Forward- Carmelo Anthony 3. Forward- LeBron James
4. Forward- Tim Duncan          4. Forward- Kevin Garnett
5. Center- Yao Ming                5. Center- Dwight Howard

Tuesday was Kobe's 2 year anniversary where he scored a career and franchise history game high of 81 points. Only 1 other player has scored more points in a single game, and that was Wilt Chamberlain, who holds the NBA's record of 100 points. It is unlikely that anyone will ever break that record or even come close, but for those of you who saw Kobe achieve this phenomenal record, it was quite a spectacle to see.