This is not news to anyone who has been watching him all year ... but the vast majority of people haven't been watching him all year, including us. Screw this "LeBron/Kobe is the next MJ" business; Chris Paul is the next Chris Paul, and it's pretty amazing.

We enjoyed Eric Neel's valentine on Page 2 yesterday.

Part of it is he's so ordinary looking, so (forgive me, Chris) small. You look at Kevin Garnett and you know you're looking at some extraordinary specimen even before you watch him play. Ditto LeBron and Kobe, whose ripped, long frames seem almost predictably tied to excellence. Paul is fit but not sculpted. He's the shortest guy on the floor most of the time. He's got this unassuming, slightly pigeon-toed walk and this young, seemingly guileless grin. And even though you know he's capable of stealing Jason Kidd's immortal soul, you're still dumbfounded when he completely dominates a Western Conference semifinal game.

Neel touches on a point at the end that makes us sad; it's almost too much, too gorgeous, too fast. Please don't let Chris Paul be dating Star Jones in three years.

Speaking of The Flying Dutchman, he had himself a game — a team-high 27 points on 7-for-11 shooting — but he was also a big grumpy-puss all night long, scowling around and screaming at his invisible friend (Herr Gefartenalldertimen) once after he threw the ball out of bounds. Dirk may have the trophy, and he may be in all the history books, but he sure doesn't act like an MVP, does he?

And how about the Little General? After watching his team get sliced and diced by Paul in Game 1, Avery Johnson chose to double-team the tiny point guard early and often in Game 2. That strategy ... didn't work. Paul had 6 points and 8 assists in the first quarter, he had a double-double by halftime (12 points, 10 assists), and by game's end he had become the first player in NBA history (as far as I know) to have at least 30 points and 10 assists in his first two career playoff games. If you didn't just say "wow," I'll assume Agent Smith just popped out of the Matrix and made your mouth disappear.

Paul got some bigtime backup from David West (27 points), Peja Stojakovic (22 points, 5-for-7 from three-point range) and Tyson Chandler (10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocked shots). Meanwhile, Nowitzki's fellow starters looked too razzle-dazzled by Paul to do much of anything: Jason Kidd shot 3-for-10 and had 8 assists; Josh Howard scored 10 points and also went 3-for-10; and Erick Dampier had an Oliver Miller-like 6 points and 6 boards. The only bright spot for Dallas was the bench play from Jason Terry (16 points, 4 assists) and Brendan Bass (19 points, 8 rebounds). The Hornets now lead the series 2-0. Game 3 is on Friday.

Super. Man. More super than man. Dwight Howard had his second 20-20 game of the playoffs with 29 points and 20 rebounds, cradling the Orlando Magic in his mighty arms and flying them to an exciting 104-103 win over the Toronto Raptors. I now believe a man can fly.

After the game, Howard talked about his all-consuming need to defend truth, justice and his team's playoff hopes. "It was tough to come back and play the same way I played the first game. But one of the things (coach Stan Van Gundy) has put in my head, and (assistant coach Patrick Ewing), is just trying to play as dominant as I could on both ends of the floor. Since the last game, the only thing on my mind, when I go to sleep, when I wake up, at the gym with the guys, is to dominate."

And that's just what he did, with the Raptors playing the role of the gimp. Not that Chris Bosh submitted meekly and without a fight. The mightiest dino had 29 points and 10 rebounds, which was good, but he also missed a 19-footer with 1.9 seconds that would have won it, which was bad. Now, you might be thinking, "Bosh put it up from 19 feet out to win it ... is that really the best shot they could have gotten?" And that would be a good question. But Bosh had a rationale for his desperation heave from the perimeter.

"I knew I was going to have space. The time before I drove to the basket and I didn't get the call. I didn't want to put it in the referee's hands. I wanted to get a clean look — I felt like I did a decent job. I got a decent look and just missed the shot." If by "decent look" he means "I could kinda sorta see the basket," then he's absolutely right. But whether or not it was a good shot, the end result is the same: The Raptors are down 2-0, and that's a pretty deep tar pit for an extinct lizard to crawl out of.

Orlando got 18 points a piece from Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Toronto's Jason Kapono had a "Return To Jurassic Park" performance with 20 points. (It's about time, Jason.)

Jason Voorhees would be impressed. Chee-chee-chee ah-ah-ah! Just when you think they're finally dead and buried, the Spurs crawl out of their maggot-encrusted graves, slip on a hockey mask and go back to hacking and slashing the competition. Meanwhile, Phoenix keeps rising from its own ashes seemingly for the express purpose of getting killed by the Spurs over and over and over again ... Groundhog Day-style. And I think I just set a new two-sentence record for unrelated references.

The Suns slipped on one of the Gorilla's banana peels and fell into a 2-0 hole after last night's 102-96 loss. Phoenix ran out to an early 14-point lead behind quick starts from Amare Stoudemire (33 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) and Shaq (19 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocked shots), but their defense couldn't — if you can even call it that — couldn't stop, contain, or even sort of slow down Tony Parker (32 points, 7 assists) or Manu Ginobili (29 points). Toss in a little Tim Duncan for good measure (18 points, 17 rebounds), and San Antonio's titanic trio accounted for 79 of their team's 102 points.

The 60 Million Dollar Man had 23 points and 10 assists, but the Suns got next to nothing from Grant Hill (zero points, 0-for-1), Leandro Barbosa (zero points, 0-for-7) or Raja Bell (8 points, 2-for-7), and that's not going to cut it. Not that the Spurs bench was lighting it on fire, but at least Michael Finley scored all of his 8 points in a 10-0 third quarter run that helped the old guys take control for good. Advantage: Spurs. In more ways than one.

• I guess he's good enough to be an All-Star reserve. With the New Orleans crowd - all 26 of them - chanting "M-V-P," Chris Paul scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished 17 assists, each of which created a tiny parallel universe full of Jessica Albas making out with Scarlett Johanssons in an inflatable pool full of JELL-O brand gelatin. I don't impress easily, but even I have to admit that's pretty rad. Paul's teammate Tyson Chandler wasn't half bad either, scoring 10 points and grabbing 16 of the Hornets' 52 rebounds. Denver wasn't quite as good on the boards (33) or in that whole "putting the ball in the basket" thing (42 percent shooting and 19 turnovers), so the the Hornets stung the Nuggets into a lumpy 117-93 submission. Allen Iverson scored 23 and Kenyon Martin had 18, but most of the other Nuggets were barely able to outscore Carmelo Anthony, who, in case you didn't know, is still out with a sprained left ankle.

• A Maverick ain't 'fraid a no Grizzly. Grizzlies are terrifying creatures. It's a scientific fact that the only living things that aren't afraid of them are Bruce Willis and cowboys. A cowboy, he'll just walk up, stare that grizzly bear in the eye, then lasso that sucker and dress it in his sister's prom dress. Because that's how cowboys roll. Anyway, sometimes art (in this case basketball) imitates life (in this case cowboys), and Dallas hogtied Memphis on their way to a 103-84 victory. Josh Howard scored 26 points (and hit his first eight shots!), Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Erick Dampier added 11 points and 12 rebounds, Jason Terry...you know what? Most of the Mavs played really well, and pretty much everybody on the Grizzlies didn't. (Okay, Rudy Gay looked pretty good in scoring 18 points, but that's it.)

• Tim Duncan misses his comfy chair. My grandpa, he loved his comfy chair. And the older he got, the less he wanted to leave that chair. Similarly, the Spurs - considered "very ancient" by most NBA age experts - don't like leaving their own version of the comfy chair, otherwise known as the Alamodome. Heading into their 9-game "rodeo trip," San Antonio was only 8-9 on the road. And I hate to ruin the ending for you, but their situation didn't improve in Utah. Tim Duncan showed up with 26 and 11, but he lost the ball 7 times. Tony Parker shot 1-for-7, Michael Finley was 2-for-8, and I think Robert Horry was actually embalmed at halftime. The somewhat youthier Jazz, meanwhile, showed a shocking lack of respect for their elders. Carlos Boozer and Andre Kirilenko each scored 23 points, and Deron Williams handed out 14 dimes as Utah scored a 97-91 victory that moved them from ninth place in the Western Conference to fourth!

• Where meaningless games happen. The Bobcats versus the Clippers. Let's face it, unless somebody on these teams can call you "mom," then chances are you really don't care about the outcome of this game. If for some bizarre reason you do care - and in that case I pity you - here are the facts: Charlotte won 107-100 behind Gerald Wallace and his 23 points (8-for-11), 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Tim Thomas arose from his season-long slumber to score 29 points and grab 13 rebounds for the Clips, proving once again that he is at his absolute best when it really doesn't matter.

There is little debate, however, about the Rookie of the Year award, which the NOOCH's Chris Paul is obvious pick. This led to a rather disconcerting visual effect on ESPN's "experts' page, each of whom picked Paul. The cumulative effect? Chris Paul is looking into our souls.

ESPN.com's Award Winners [ESPN]