NBA All-Star Starters 2012: Breaking Down the Likely Matchups

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game is set to be played February 26 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

The starters for that game will be revealed tonight, and one thing is certain—both starting lineups will be loaded with talent.

Before the starting lineups are made official, let's take a look at the likely starters in each conference and how they match up against each other.

Point Guard

Likely Starters

East: Derrick Rose

West: Chris Paul

Breakdown: Paul against Rose is a matchup worth paying to see. In an All-Star game setting though, the two could pull off something spectacular.

The Western Conference has the better frontcourt, so expect Paul to be more of a facilitator for his teammates.

Rose could look to takeover and make a run at the MVP award to go along with last season's regular season MVP.

Edge: Rose

Shooting Guard

Likely Starters

East: Dwayne Wade

West: Kobe Bryant

Breakdown: Wade's been banged up most of the year, and in a shortened season you can make the case that he shouldn't be a starter, having played in only 13 games this season. He's been very good in the games he has played in, however.

The Rose-Wade backcourt is athletic and quick and should be a major reason why the East stays in the game.

Bryant, on the other hand, is the NBA's leading scorer at 30.0 points per game, who has shown signs of domination this season with four consecutive 40-point games.

The All-Star game is the perfect setting for Bryant to do something special.

Edge: Bryant

Small Forward

Likely Starters

East: Carmelo Anthony

West: Kevin Durant

Breakdown: This is a good one-on-one matchup between two of the NBA's premier scorers.

Anthony's taken some heat in New York for the Knicks' struggles, but the All-Star Game features scoring, and few are as good at it as Anthony. No one will complain about his isolation game in this setting.

Unfortunately for him, Durant is one of those guys.

He's another candidate for MVP of the game and is having another outstanding season. The Thunder are making a statement during the regular season, Durant could make a statement in this game.

Edge: Durant

Power Forward

Likely Starters

East: LeBron James

West: Blake Griffin

Breakdown: You really could play either Anthony or James at the 4 in this game, but in this case we're bumping James down.

Both guys could try and put on a show above the rim in this setting.

James will be a tough cover for Griffin and could put up some big numbers, but don't think that Griffin won't have the opportunity to have a big game either.

This will be fun to watch.

Edge: James

Center

Likely Starters

East: Dwight Howard

West: Andrew Bynum

Breakdown: This could be the last good moment Howard has while a member of the Magic. It will be interesting to see if the home crowd completely turns on him by then.

It's a matchup of the best center in the game against the guy looking to knock him from the top of the mountain. These two also could potentially still be traded for each other.

These two will go at each other, but Howard's still the top guy until proven otherwise.

Edge: Howard