2 Big NBA Debuts Spoiled

The two big names in the recent NBA trades made their debuts Wednesday night. Shaq suited up for the Suns as they faced Kobe's Lakers. Jason Kidd also debuted in a Mavs' uniform as his new team took on the New Orleans Hornets. Unfortunately the debuts were spoiled as they were facing the top two teams in the West.

Chris Paul and the Hornets made sure that Jason Kidd saw a glimpse of how tough the West competition is. The Hornets are the surprise leader in the Western Conference right now, thanks to the play of their excellent floor general. Chris Paul is showing why he is the next ambassador for the role of top point guard in the NBA. He does it all; scores in bunches, dishes the ball very well, gets steals and plays smart basketball. And the Hornets sit on top of the Conference thanks to that.

On the other side, Kobe and his Lakers held off Shaq's new team, the Phoenix Suns by just 5 points. The game was a seesaw affair into the 4th where the Lakers managed to keep ahead and win it. Kobe had his 5th 40 point game against the Suns, but he combined with Gasol and Odom for about 80 or 90 of the team's points. Not bad for an NBA trio and this may be a glimpse of the conference finals in the playoffs. The Lakers appear to be back to life.

So last night gave a clear view of why New Orleans and the Lakers are at the top of the West. Basically the two top players out West might be Kobe and Chris Paul right now who both could be considered in the MVP vote. Kobe's Lakers are once again playing well and Andrew Bynum isn't even back yet to man the middle. Paul is going to be a huge star in the league as Stephen A. Smith of ESPN made sure to exclaim. Don't count these four teams out of the NBA finals spot, but then again the Spurs are being overlooked, and that's when they are most dangerous.