Austin- Western Conference (Q)

We've got some catching up to do in the Western Conference before we reach the all-star break and trade deadlines, and there's some serious news to discuss. First of all, to get this out of the way, Kobe Bryant will be reevaluated for his knee injury next week. He's been out since December 17th. League leading scorer Kevin Durant has been as hot as ever lately, scoring at least 40 points in 4 games this month, including a 56 point game (a career high). In the history of the NBA, only 3 players have put up 3 consecutive seasons that included 50 point games. Those players are Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlin and Kevin Durant. When it's all said and done, KD could be the best scorer in league history. Just a thought. LeBron James even said that he had a "KD watch" on his phone to record Durant's scoring outbursts. While we're on the subject of LeBron James, I might add that he posted a picture on instagram this week of his feet in a pair of Kobe Bryant PE sneakers. Interesting to say the least. In other news, the top 3 spots of the Western Conference are all within 1.5 games of each other. The Spurs hold onto the 1 spot as they have a .5 game lead over the Thunder. As we are at the mid-point of the season, we might as well take a look at the (non-existant) half-way point awards. If the season ended today, I think we'd see Kevin Durant take home the MVP title, with 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists a game. If I had to pick an All-Western Conference line up, it'd be Paul, Curry, Harden, Durant and Kevin Love. All 2nd team would be Tony Parker, Damian Lillard, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.