Will the Eastern Conference again play small ball with a frontcourt lineup that does not include a traditional center?

Could a couple of high-profile wounded warriors limp into the top two places in the Western Conference backcourt?

Those are the two biggest questions left to answer when the results of fan balloting to choose the starting lineups for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game are announced tonight on TNT (7 p.m. ET).

If the pattern from the previous round of voting holds up, the East will take the floor for the opening tip with a prolific trio of forwards in LeBron James of the Heat, Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks and first-time starter Paul George of the Pacers up front.

James (1,076,063) was the top vote-getter overall when the latest totals were announced on Jan. 9. George (899,671) was second up front for the East and Anthony (702,869) third. In that case, Indiana center Roy Hibbert would be the odd man out. He is the top center in the conference, but was a distant fourth (385,964) in the last front court voting.

The East backcourt appears set with Dwyane Wade of the Heat and Kyrie Irving of the Cavaliers holding a commanding lead over Chicago’s injured Derrick Rose and Washington’s John Wall.

In the Western Conference, the race is between the star power of the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and the Clippers’ Chris Paul, neither of whom will be able to play due to injury, and the Warriors’ rising star Stephen Curry, who has never made an All-Star team. Curry. Bryant (844,538) has led the way at every previous count of the ballots and Curry (677,372) was in second place, but with only a narrow lead over Paul (651,073).

The West frontcourt starters will likely be the same as last season with the Thunder’s Kevin Durant (1,054,209), the Rockets’ Dwight Howard (509,116) and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin (500,964) leading the way.

The starting lineups will be revealed during a special one-hour edition of the Emmy Award-winning pregame show “Inside the NBA”, featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. The special will air prior to TNT’s exclusive doubleheader featuring the Lakers at the Heat (8 p.m. ET) and the Nuggets at the Blazers (10:30 p.m. ET).

From there it will be up to the the coaches in each conference to fill out their respective rosters with seven reserves each.

The 63rd NBA All-Star Game will be exclusively televised on TNT from New Orleans Arena on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014. The All-Star Game, also broadcast live on ESPN Radio, will collectively reach fans in 215 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

Category: 2014 All-Star, HT News / Tags: , Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, Cavaliers, Charles Barkley, Chris Paul, Clippers, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Ernie Johnson, Fran Blinebury, Heat, John Wall, Kenny Smith, Kevin Durant, Knicks, Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving, Lakers, LeBron James, Pacers, Paul George, Rockets, Roy Hibbert, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephen Curry, Thunder, Warriors / 22 Comments on All-Star Starting Lineups Tonight on TNT /