When you think of elite scoring machines in the NBA today there are only about three names that come to mind: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James

These three guy can take a game over at any time they want with the ability to just flip a switch at seemingly any moment. Not since the days of Michael Jordan have we seen a scorer, let alone three scorers that have this kind of ability in the NBA.

So when any pair of these players meet in a head to head match up it is always a must see event.

Last night Dwyane Wade and LeBron James put on a scoring display as the two battled back and forth similar to the Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins battle back in the day.

These two scorers in Wade and LeBron are so equally talented scoring the basketball that they finished the game only one point apart with LeBron James scoring 42 in a winning effort and Dwyane Wade adding 41 points. LeBron did have the rebounding edge with eight boards to Wade's seven, but it was the Heat's leading scorer that seem to have the better all around game as he also finished with nine assists and an amazing seven steals.

LeBron was red hot from deep hitting six of seven from beyond the arc, but I would have to give the individual performance to Wade over King James due to his impressive performance distributing the basketaball and especially on the defensive end with his seven steals.

If you didn't see Shaq tear it up over the last two games you missed the rebirth of the old Shaq in Phoenix. He may not be as quick or as powerful in the paint like he once was in the championship years in LA, but he is starting to come into his own in a Suns uniform.

It was pretty embarrassing in Los Angeles when the Phoenix Suns were just manhandled by Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, but it may have been just what the doctor ordered for Shaq as he turned back into a scoring machine.

First Shaq displayed how he used to dominate the paint by absolutely destroying Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors by lighting them up for 45 points. Shaq has definitely played better this season, but scoring 45 points again never seemed possible until now.

The Suns had a rematch with the Los Angeles Lakers on their home floor in Phoenix just a couple of days later, but Shaq was just as hot as he was against Toronto by putting up 33 points against his old team. The Lakers just didn't have an answer for him, just like back in the day when he was wearing purple and gold.

Kobe Bryant turned it on as well by pouring in a game high 49 points, but it wasn't enough to take beat Shaq and company this time around.

As the NBA trade deadline came closer and closer the Phoenix Suns seemed guaranteed to make the biggest move with both Shaq and Amare Stoudemire looked to be on their way to another team.

All sorts of trade scenarios, mostly surrounded around Stoudemire, were thrown out there with the Phoenix Suns turning towards a new look.

Although Stoudemire seemed to be on his way out, the Suns went out and made a drastic move by firing head coach Terry Porter and appointing Alvin Gentry as head coach for the time. The results where immediate success as the Suns got back to their run and gun offense by scoring 140 points in three straight games.

Trouble was just around the corner though as Amare Stoudemire needed surgery on his eye which will keep him out for at least a couple of months and possibly out for the season.

So although they did move their best player they still lost him for a considerable amount of time. The Suns are definitely playing a much better brand of basketball, but without Amare they could be in for another early exit in the playoffs.

Although the trade sending Jermaine O'Neal to the Miami Heat and Shawn Marion to the Toronto Raptors could be huge for both teams, there weren't many other big blockbuster trades that went down even though there were a lot of superstars looked to be going elsewhere before the February 19th NBA trade deadline went down.

Vince Carter was going to go to Houston in exchange for Tracy McGrady. Shaq and Amare Stoudemire also seemed to be going somewhere to fix the mess in Phoenix, but once the trade deadline was over and done with nothing major went down like it did last season.

The only deal that might have a profound affect besides the O'Neal/Marion swap is the Orlando Magic getting point guard Rafer Alston to replace the injured All Star Jameer Nelson.

With Alston picking up where Nelson left off the Magic championship hopes are alive and well again.

 As much as I hate to say this as a die hard Lakers fan, the San Antonio Spurs are not a team to be taken for granted and are still title contenders in the Western conference this season. 

For the first time in a long time the San Antonio Spurs are flying relatively under the radar. As being one of the two most dominant teams in the NBA over the past decade (Lakers being the other), the Spurs come out every season and play at a very high level with some aging superstars. 

Tony Parker is still pretty young, but Tim Duncan is getting up there in age and year after year there is always talk about how the Spurs are getting too old to be contenders in this league. Although that has been something talked about quite a bit about the Spurs in past seasons, this year no one is talking about the Spurs.

It is not that the Spurs has disappointed this season, but with the emergence of LeBron James in Cleveland, the defending champs in Boston, Kobe's Lakers and Dwight Howard's young Magic squad the Spurs just have gone unnoticed. 

The thing is that some say that the Spurs are the second best team in the league right now just below the Lakers. I wouldn't call them the second best, but they are definitely in the top three or five teams this year.

They may be old, but they can still ball! If they keep playing the way they have been playing they could give my Lakers a run for their money come playoff time!

 It is always a tough question with really no clear cut answers and almost always stirs up an debate. Which team is the best in the NBA?

For the first time in quite some time there are a few teams NBA pretty evenly matched instead of just one or two at the top of the league. 

In the West there is one team that stands above the rest and that is the Los Angeles Lakers. This team has been tested time and time again by for the best teams in the NBA, but they continue to hush their critics as they have quickly become the best team in the West lead by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

In the East there are three teams that are as good as anyone. First there is LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers who have only lost one game at home so far this season and LeBron looks to be the front runner for the MVP award so far.

Then you have the Orlando Magic who have surprised everyone with how quickly they have developed into a dominant team around center Dwight Howard. With Jameer Nelson running the point and both Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu deadly from beyond the arc and of course Superman in the middle, the Magic have shown that they are a legit title contender this season.

Finally there is the defending champion Boston Celtics. When the season began the Celtics were red hot and creating talk of a 70 win season, but after they met up with the Lakers on Christmas day that all changed as the Lakers finally got the best of the Celtics and sent them into their first losing streak of the season. Although Boston loss a few games in a row after the loss to LA, they rebounded rather quickly and regained their dominant form as best in the East.

So who is best in the NBA? My pick is the Lakers, but the way all these great teams are playing it could be any one of these teams come June.

On Christmas day we all saw which team is now the best team in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers beating the Boston Celtics convincingly with Andrew Bynum patrolling the paint and limiting the Celtics penetration which just killed the Lakers in the NBA finals last season.

Now the plot thickening for this NBA finals rematch as Andrew Bynum has just gone down again with an injury that will keep him out two to three months. Before the big kid went down he was arguably the best center in the West averaging a little over 26 points a game and 14 boards after lighting up the Los Angeles Clipper for a career high 42 points, but now he will have to watch from the bench like he did throughout the NBA finals.

Kevin Garnett has been pretty sick lately which could, if it is bad enough, keep him out of this game which could even the playing field a little bit, but I am pretty sure he will want to be in uniform to defend his home court against the hated Lakers.

I still believe the Lakers can beat the Celtics on their home floor without Bynum, but it will be a very close game as Boston will be looking to expose the flaws they discovered during the finals last year. If the Lakers can overcome the Celtics and the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavs a few days later they will be without a doubt in my mind the front runners to win it all at this point in the season. Not having Bynum until April and possibly June is a major blow, but if they can overcome it the sky is the limit!

The West will not look the same over the next few months as the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a huge blow by losing up and coming center Andrew Bynum for two to three months with torn ligament in his right knee after a collision with Kobe Bryant against the Memphis Grizzles on Saturday.

The Lakers have arguably been the best team in the NBA this season just dominating opposing teams with their versitale play. With Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum all playing at a high level recently the Lakers have been just unstoppable as of late.

Ironically enough when the Lakers just started to have their big three playing better than ever, Andrew Bynum goes down yet again with another serious knee injury. Reportedly the knee injury this season isn't as bad as it was last season with Bynum dislocated his left knee cap, but then again with Bynum out for up to three months it could do considerable damage to the Lakers position in the West and their team chemistry.

With Bynum out the Lakers will go back to the lineup the got them to the finals last season with Lamar Odom getting back in the starting lineup as the Lakers starting power forward and Pau Gasol moving back to the center position.

Even though losing is nothing new with the Los Angeles Clippers, you got to feel for them this season. Not only did they lose the face of the franchise in Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, but all of their new superstars are injured and watching hopelessly from the bench.

When the Clippers went out and signed Baron Davis I thought they were on the right track to becoming a playoff team again. Davis has the uncanny ability to make any team better when he is running the point, but having Davis as their starter also has the downside of constant injuries.

The signing of Davis seemed to pave the way for things to come. In the NBA draft the Clippers were able to sign scoring machine Eric Gordon from Indiana who would be the future of the two guard position for the Clipps. Then there was the trade for Marcus Camby to replace the presence in the paint left vacant by Elton Brand. Finally there was New York Knicks deal which brought Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to LA.

The Clippers seemed poised to make a run in the West, but then the injury bug hit the entire team by sidelining all the new Clippers and putting the team in the hands of rookie Eric Gordon.

Granted Gordon has played way beyond expectations thus far, but unfortunately it hasn't resulted in wins for the struggling franchise. Most of the Clippers starters are do to come back after the All Star break, but it might be too little too late for the Clippers to make a legit run at the 8th spot in the Western conference, but you never know!

The team just down the hall at the Staples Center on the other hand has played like they are ready to be NBA champs yet again. After the Boston Celtics exposed the Lakers lack of defensive intensity and toughness, Kobe Bryant and company new exactly what they had to do this season.

One of the problems the Lakers have had this season has been the progression of Andrew Bynum who hasn't been able to regain the dominance in the paint like he did before he went down a year ago.

That might be all in the past now after Bynum absolutely dominated the Clippers inside on Wednesday night. With a career high 42 points and 15 rebounds Bynum made us all remember the days of the Shaq and Kobe connection. The big kid just could not be stop in the paint and Kobe Bryant took advantage of by feeding the big fella in the paint all night long.

Kobe also had a huge night Wednesday with his 16th triple double of his career. Bryant did have a poor shooting night hitting only 5 of 15 from the floor, but he made up for it with 18 points, 12 assists and 10 boards.

Needless to say, it would be a safe bet to take the opposing team against the Clippers until they get healthy because they will not be getting the best of any above .500 team anytime soon.

Coming into this NBA season the Boston Celtics were flying high as the top dogs in the NBA after trouching the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals back in June. The Celtics seemed to defy all odds in the playoffs and get their 17th championship banner at the expense of Kobe Bryant and their hated rival Lakers.

To start their NBA title defence the Celtics were smoking hot out of the gate and looking virtually unbeatable, so much so that people were making comparisons of 08-09 Boston Celtics to Michael Jordan's 95-96 Chicago Bulls who won a league best 72 games. This fantasy of winning 70+ games came to grinding halt when the Celtics face the Lakers in a Finals rematch on Christmas day.

Even though the Lakers didn't exactly manhandle the Celtics on Christmas day, it was a pretty convincing win which caused Boston to expose their weaknesses to the league and resulted in somewhat of a downward spiral for the Celtics as they suffered their first losing streak of the season.

The Orlando Magic on the other hand has been flying under the radar this season beating some the NBA top teams this season including the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and the San Antonio Spurs. Dwight Howard has lead the way for the Magic by being a dominant force in the paint. Superman (as he has been nicknamed) has been a match up nightmare for every team in the league. With his strength, mobility and quickness around the basket he has quickly turned into the best center in the game.

Along with Howard there have been plenty of role players getting it done in Orlando. With Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis as Howard's supporting cast the Magic have quickly made their way to the best record in the NBA and legitimate title contenders in the East.

The one team that will stand in their way when it comes playoff time will be the defending champion Celtics who have already beaten the Magic in the begining of December in Boston. LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers and Allen Iverson's Detroit Pistons will probably be in the mix as well, but I get the feeling this match up between the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics will be the two teams to meet in the Eastern conference finals.

Not only does this game in Orlando have playoff implications, but it was also be a very entertaining game with Dwight Howard going head to head against Kevin Garnett. Definitely a must see match up!

The Orlando Magic are five point favorites.