Three Stars of the Night: The big boys showed up on Friday

Nights like this have happened before and will happen again — as much we love the stories of the rookies finding themselves or the under-appreciated player having a huge night, the NBA’s superstars are the NBA’s superstars for a reason. Nike pays them to sell shoes for a reason.

The NBA’s stars showed up in force on Friday:

Number Three Star: Kobe Bryant (27 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists)

Freed from the shackles of the overly-complicated hybrid Princeton offense, the Lakers went about doing the things that work best for them against Golden State. Los Angeles played at a lot faster, it ran more pick-and-rolls, it played with real energy at both ends of the court, and the players seemed to have fun. That starts with Kobe, who operated more out of the post, pushed the ball in transition (see the video below) and played as complete a game as we have seen from him in a while. Maybe he should be lobbying for Bernie Bickerstaff to get the job full time.

Number Two Star: Carmelo Anthony (31 points on 22 shots, 7 rebounds)

Carmelo Anthony has the Knicks undefeated. The NBA’s only remaining undefeated team, thank you very much. It was ‘Melo who set the tone for the win over Dallas — 19 of his game-high 31 points came in the first quarter. Sure, J.R. Smith sparked the Knicks in the third quarter when they pulled away, but ‘Melo had laid down the foundation. They don’t win without him. And right now he’s a lot of fun to watch — he’s playing as good a stretch of ball as he ever has.

Number One Star: LeBron James (21 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists)

It wasn’t just that he flirted with a triple double on the night — he’s been doing that almost every game this season. It’s that he took on more with Dwyane Wade out and was there to sink the dagger — a jumper with 13.6 seconds left to seal a Heat win. I feel for DeShawn Stevenson, who tried but just isn’t strong enough to stop LeBron when it mattered most. But then, who can?