at Philips Arena on December 15, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
By Matt Yoder on

Tonight represents a possible NBA Finals preview.  The Best of the West visiting the Best of the East.  39-8 Golden State at 41-8 Atlanta.  The Hawks have won 25 out of their last 27 games and the Warriors have won 16 out of their last 19.  Arguably the two best teams and stories in the NBA this year.

But unless you have NBA League Pass or live in one of the two markets, you won’t be able to see it.

No, Warriors-Hawks will not be on national television tonight.  Instead, ESPN will air a doubleheader of Clippers-Raptors and Heat-Spurs.

The decisions that go into what games are televised on national television are complicated.  There’s appearance and scheduling limitations.  It’s not just a simple matter of putting the best game on every night at the beginning of the week.

In fact, the originally scheduled national game for tonight at 7 PM ET was the nightmarish Knicks-Nets matchup.  Last month, ESPN made the decision to replace that dud with a much more appealing Clippers-Raptors game that will air tonight.  At the time, Atlanta had barely started their 19 game winning streak and Hawks-Warriors wasn’t quite the must-see event it is today.  And in case you were wondering, NBATV can’t air the game up against the national ESPN window.

So chalk it up to a bit of bad luck and the Hawks coming from out of nowhere in January.  But if you want to see the best game of the NBA season, you’re going to have to work hard to search it out.

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