Los Angeles Clippers didn't 'get robbed' in loss to Oklahoma City Thunder

Late last night, controversy surrounds Game 5 between the Clippers and Thunder, again showing that cooler heads always prevail and there were always more than one reason teams lose a game.

It's a natural reaction to look at last night's game and completely dismiss how everything went down. The ball should have been called out on Oklahoma City on the Matt Barnes' reach in and even more controversy surrounds Chris Paul's foul on Russel Westbrook, sending him to the line for 3 shots as they then sat down by two points.

Doc Rivers went on a horrible tirade after the game and both killed the calls and killed the refs. Despite actually admitting that the Clippers could have played better down the stretch, they "got robbed." Yup. Having a 13-point lead and blowing it with a shade over four minutes left is certainly getting robbed.

Even more nauseating than Rivers was the absolute breakdown over Twitter. College basketball analysts were spouting off, oh, where are the people that defended NBA refs and crucified NCAA officials? Please, go back to watching tape on the Ivy League. Naturally college refs are going to be worse because there's a bigger pool to select from, and they clearly get more calls wrong and remain inconsistent at best throughout games.

Replay haters were spouting off how it failed again. Enough. We all know replay rules are stupid and I've explained multiple times how they can create a replay system that works fast and can look at everything. And replay haters don't understand what they're complaining about because replay actually gets it right -- it's the refs that can't go back and say something was a foul. So first, replay haters need to figure out what to bitch about before yelling off their soap box.

Then there's Clippers fans, who go off on tangents about how the refs are the worst -- never mind refs helping them advance in one of the games against Golden State -- and that this could cost them the series! Oh, the stupidity. There's so many things that happen throughout the course of the game, plenty of other things could have happened to prevent last night's outcome. Begins with finishing a game and Chris Paul doing anything differently than that disaster he owned up for in the final seconds. Maybe Westbrook could have missed a free throw.

But no, let's just bitch about the controversy because that's easy fodder to throw around on Twitter and sports media. God help us all when some people can't look past a couple plays and don't realize that there is always, always more than one reason why there's an outcome of the game -- unless rain forces a postponement.

The sooner people figure that out, the less vitrol, bitterness, and hatred will spew on social media.

• NHL: Rangers complete comeback, Blackhawks advance - Pittsburgh chokes as they'll face uncertainty heading to the offseason, and Sidney Crosby will face plenty of scrutiny after scoring just one goal -- a game winner in Game 3 -- during the entire playoffs. On the flipside, Patrick Kane had his sixth goal in the game-winner and lucky bounces are always the king of hockey.
• NBA: Pacers back to normal after Wizards beatdown - Marcin Gortat had 31 points and 16 rebounds. Roy Hibbert had 4 points and 2 rebounds. Let me know when you figure it out, Indiana.
• MLB: Braves 5, Giants 0 - Ryan Vogelsong wasn't backed up by the offense, who had just one hit through the first six innings. This was Mike Minor's first win of the season.
• NCAA: ACC considers non-conference games against itself. It sounds weird at first, but it's better than seeing Clemson take on The Citadel.
• MEDIA: Clay Travis tries to defend Donald Sterling with some horrible rant about how actions should speak louder than words. Travis also never brings up Sterling heckling players, being sued by Elgin Baylor, and forcing out Latino tenants. Why? Because research is a hard thing, and it's much easier to go on a 1,000-word tirade filled with one-sentence fragments.

Today's Slate:

(Central times listed)

TENNIS

ATP BNL d'Italia - 4:00a TNNS

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - CHAMPIONSHIP

Benfica at Sevilla - 1:45 FS1

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 2

Canadiens at Bruins (Game 7) - 6:00 NBCS

-Ducks at Kings (ANA 3-2) - 8:30 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 2

Nets at Heat (MIA 3-1) - 6:00 TNT

Blazers at Spurs (SA 3-1) - 8:30 TNT

MLB

Rockies at Royals - 1:10 FSKC

Nationals at D'backs - 2:40 MLBTV

-Braves at Giants - 2:45 MLBTV

Padres at Reds - 6:10 MLBTV

Marlins at Dodgers - 9:10 MLBTV