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Report: Chris Paul cried after Game 5 loss, says 'I don't want to forget'

Kirby Lee / USA Today Sports

With 4:01 left to play in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Clippers led by 13 and had roughly a 99 percent chance of winning the game.

They would lose that lead, the game, and the series in six, with that 13-point flop swinging their chances of winning the series from an estimated 71.8 percent down to just 8.4 percent. It was an epic collapse, and it's a story that Clippers point guard Chris Paul is hoping to rewrite this season.

It would be lying to you to say I'd forgotten about it," Paul told The Los Angeles Times in an interview published Saturday. "It's one of those things that I don't want to forget, to tell you the truth. I think for me, I feel like you have to remember things like that and therefore you don't want that feeling again. I know I don't."

Paul was "so devastated he cried" after the loss, according to the article. There's nothing wrong with that from where we sit - when you put endless hours into an endeavor and see the final goal slip away, it has to be heart-wrenching.

Now, Paul claims to be fully recharged and ready for the season ahead. He wouldn't compare his dedication to remembering the Game 5 loss with the motivational tactics of the San Antonio Spurs, who leveraged their Game 6 loss to the Miami Heat in 2013 as fuel for their 2014 title run. But he sounds steadfast that he'll do his best to avoid re-living that Game 5 feeling. 

Because the world's best point guard needed a reason to push himself to be even better.

[Dap EOB]

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