Finally, A "Clip" Show Worth Watching

Have you ever had a moment of pure vindication?

Come on, you know the feeling. That feeling you get after someone's been criticizing something you've done, or something you've said, or something you believe in. Endlessly. The taunts don't stop. They just keep challenging you and challenging you, and for a long time, it looks like they're right. Eventually, you start doubting yourself: Maybe I'm wrong.

And then, in one blazing moment, the truth comes and smacks them in the face, knocks them to the ground, and you get to stand there, gloating. Vindicated.

Yeah, you know that feeling.

After tonight, so does Blake Griffin. And so do the Los Angeles Clippers.

That other team

I won't say that I called the rise of the Clippers. They've had chances before now, with Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. Heck, I think they even went to the playoffs one year. But that could've been the Dodgers, I don't really care.

That's how L.A. feels about the Clippers: they just don't care. And why should they?

The Lakers are going to be the team in Los Angeles. Too many stars on and off the court. Too many championship banners in the rafters. Too much cash, too much glitz, too much Kobe. Before this year, more people recognized DJ Mbenga than Eric Gordon.

The Clippers aren't even L.A.'s bastard child. They're more like the confused and angry kid from the wrong side of the tracks you feel sorry for, so you them stay at your house, like Benjamin McKenzie's character on The O.C. (sorry, had to do it.) Think about it: the Lakers just kind of let the Clips play at Staples, never mind that their red, white and blue colors are less-suited to the L.A. aura than Vinny Del Negro.

Worse than that, the Clippers have just had a lot of bad luck. Elgin Baylor squandered draft pick after draft pick for them, and Don Sterling has probably become Al Davis-lite watching the Lakers use Staples as a trophy room.

Still, I was the only guy in my house to call Blake Griffin a high-quality basketball player (Clark in particular still hates him), and I was the first guy in my house to call the rise of the "Clip Show".

To the test

I make no qualms about my hatred of the Miami Heat. I despise the fact that three all-NBA players basically decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and grouped up in Miami. I was never the biggest LeBron fan on the block, but after the Decision and the commercial, I stopped giving him any credibilty (by the way, his Cavs tweet was just the icing on the cake). Even after things leveled out and Dwyane Wade carried them through the first few months of the season, I still find myself hating the Heat, wishing them to get blown out whenever possible.

I realize the Heat are the best team in the East. That doesn't mean I will give them the chip right now.

So tonight was a perfect moment for my predictions to sink or swim. The Heat beating the Clippers didn't mean much, aside from the margin of victory; the Clips were 12 games under break even. But the Clippers beating the Heat meant a whole lot. Like I said, the Clips were 12 games under break even.

Either I was right about the Clippers or totally wrong about the Heat.

A six-point, wire-to-wire L.A. victory later, I feel like I was right.

And for the future?

This was the Clippers' biggest victory in a looooooong time. Eric Gordon said it was probably the best win in his two years with L.A. But it's a great sign that most of the players and coaches weren't putting too much into this. As Vinny Del Negro put it, "we've still got a game Friday night."

Yes, LAC is an exciting basketball team, but they realize being exciting and making highlights hasn't changed the fact that they're losing a lot of games. Their number-one focus is with changing that mindset. Whether that means clearing out Baron Davis soon (yes), letting go of Vinny soon (probably), or even a change of ownership (wouldn't doubt it), the players are conscious of who they are, who the Clippers are: the second team in Los Angeles.

But for one night, for all the Heat-haters in the world, the Clippers were the best team on the planet. No, "The Clip Show" is not here yet to take on the fabled "Lake Show". But like any clip show, you can bet it'll be here soon.

And for me, that's vindication enough.

JS