Don't disrespect the Clippers

Tonight Chris Paul and company travel to Cleveland to face King James and the Cavaliers. This is a nationally televised broadcast against to powerhouse opponents and should be must-see television. But some of the national media have already seemed to call this game for the King and his cohorts.

There is a decided bias forming against one of the most electryfiing teams in the league in the Clippers. They have possibly the purest passing point guard in the league, a true center in DeAndre Jordan who is big a strong enough to even keep his lordship from posting up, a power forward who I'm fairly sure could jump from standing still and sit on top of the back board with Blake Griffin and one of the best spot-up shooters to have ever played the game in Jamal Crawford, yet for all of their weapons, the national media still hasn't taken the bait.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford (11) goes up past Brooklyn Nets guard Darius Morris (14) and guard Bojan Bogdanovic during the first half of NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, in New York. The Nets won 102-100 (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

In a league that is more fascinated by the day with point guards that shoot the ball more and more with the likes of Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose attacking the rim with reckless abandon and Stephen Curry showing off his silky shooting stroke behind-the-line like he did last night, writers have given the Clippers a death-knell to any sort-of hype a true championship contender should receive. The Clipper have officially joined the Spurs as a team so good at doing the ordinary jobs it takes to win, that they are not interesting to write about.

That is what makes this matchup with Cleveland on a national stage so important. Against a re-invigorated Cavs team that seems ready to take that next-step as the Eastern Conference favorite to make it to the NBA Finals, a truly spectacular performance from any of Los Angeles' stars would bring some much needed media attention to a team that seems to feed off of that type of exposure.