Very disappointing to be sure but under the same circumstances I would make the same play every time. The first quarter played out as I had expected and those of you who like to dish out the criticism can be honest with yourself -- when only 36 points were scored in the first quarter I'll bet many of you were wishing you had played more on the UNDER. The critical part of the game was towards the end of the second quarter when the teams scored 20 points over the final 3 minutes of the half. Even so, the game was on pace for the UNDER when the score was 50-45. And the third quarter unfolded like the first with the Clippers totally inept offensively and Portland only able to score 10 point for basically the first half of the third quarter as the score was 55-50 with 6:25 left in Q3. Then the teams combined for 37 points over the rest of the quarter but it was an ideal scenario with the score tied at 71-71 (142 points) after 3 quarters, setting the stage for a deliberately played fourth quarter if the game remained tight with 50+ points needed to send the game OVER. The Clippers should have realized they needed to be as fresh as possible down the stretch and attempt to slow the Blazers down but their "defense" was horrible.
I will be putting up some free plays -- most likely in baseball -- in the coming days and I also plan to put up a free play in Friday's game 6 in this series. I will be looking to back the Blazers back home to wrap up the series but will wait until I see some lines. Despite being shorthanded the Clippers were in position to win this game as they rallied around one another to make up for the absence of Paul and Griffin -- something we see often in sports. But normally those "extra efforts" are good for only the first game following key injuries and that should be the case in Game 6 considering how close the Clippers came only to come up short.
Best of luck to all of us going forward.