Kobe Bryant, Gilbert Arenas Duel

Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas got together for a true NBA MVP candidate showdown, and Kobe won a close duel, and his Lakers won the game.

Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas are having NBA MVP seasons. Both are NBA All-Star Game starters, and both are elite scorers.

Arenas' sWashington Wizards are second in the Eastern Conference, and Kobe's Lakers are second in the Pacific Division. Saturday night, these two superstars collided in an epic battle.

Bryant won a close duel with Arenas, as Kobe scored 39 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and handed out 6 assists, while adding 2 steals.

In a classic battle, Arenas clung to Kobe inch-for-inch, scoring 37 points, to go with 5 rebounds 4 assists and 1 steal of his own.

The most glaring statistic -- the one that separated the two great guards -- was shooting. Kobe was a workmanlike 14-26 from the floor, including 2-5 from 3-point range. Arenas was an awful 9-29 and was even worse from long distance, going 3-15 from behind the arc.

Although Arenas' numbers looked pretty good, overall, this game was a complete turnaround from his first meeting with Kobe, when Arenas dropped 60 points on the Lakers on December 17th.

This was certainly Kobe Bryant's night. He punctuated his big performance with a monstrous 360-degree dunk but downplayed any thril of outdeuling Arenas.

With Lakers forward Lamar Odom back from injury and playing great again, Kobe doesn't need to worry about one-on-one superstar duels.

He's more concerned about an NBA title run.