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Who should start the NBA All-Star Game?

Jayne Kamin-Oncea / US PRESSWIRE

Thursday marked the end of NBA All-Star balloting, meaning fans have already helped decide who will start the Feb. 15 game at Madison Square Garden.

In reality, All-Star starters are players who have won a popularity contest or who've inspired and mobilized a social-media uprising, but what if the 10 starters – two guards and three frontcourt players from each conference – were decided by merit?

Then the 2015 All-Star starters would look like this as of the Jan. 19 cutoff date:

Western Conference

G - Stephen Curry*
The best player on the best team, Curry is flirting with a 50/40/90 season (49.9/39.9/91.8) despite a Usage Rate above 28 percent, something only three players in history have ever done. He's also the likely MVP front-runner at the season's midway point.

G - James Harden
The Beard is averaging 27.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals and nearly a block per game for the 29-13 Rockets, and he's an improved defender on the league's No. 2 defense.

FC - Anthony Davis*
Davis's historic season is keeping the Pelicans afloat in the unforgiving Western Conference playoff race, with The Brow on pace to join Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players to ever post a single-season PER of at least 31.0.

FC - DeMarcus Cousins
He's missed 12 games and the Kings are fading, but keeping Boogie and his 23.9 points, 12.6 rebounds and 25-plus PER out of the starting five seems like a basketball crime.

FC - Marc Gasol*
Gasol's greater two-way impact and the Grizzlies' slightly superior standing help him edge out Blake Griffin for the West's final starting spot.

Eastern Conference

G - Kyle Lowry
He's faded a bit this month, but Lowry remains a top-10 player in many advanced metrics and is averaging nearly 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds for a Raptors team on pace for 54 wins. He also leads the league in charges taken.

G - Jimmy Butler
There might not be a better two-way guard in the game right now, and that helps Butler edge John Wall and Jeff Teague for the second Eastern guard slot.

FC - LeBron James*
In a down year by his standards, LeBron is averaging 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and a steal while posting a PER of 25.3. He's also led a Cavs team that is 1-8 without him to a 21-12 record when he's in the lineup.

FC - Pau Gasol*
If there was any doubt about the 34-year-old's starting candidacy, Gasol's 46-point, 18-rebound performance against the Bucks on Jan. 10 should have erased it.

FC - Paul Millsap
Millsap's a versatile offensive weapon at the four-spot and an underrated defensive presence despite his smaller stature for a big man, shining as a two-way star on the East-leading Hawks. In a close contest with Chris Bosh and teammate Al Horford, Millsap's more consistent first half gets him the nod.

*Denotes players on track to start based on Jan. 8 voting returns

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