McCollum was heroic in Denver, but is all but invisible in the Oracle
Updated Friday, May17
C.J. McCollum is accustomed to being overlooked. At 6-foot-3 he’s considered a bit short for a shooting guard. Even the major college conferences had no interest in him. He played for the Lehigh Mountain Lions.
At 27, he’s developed into one of basketball’s clutchiest stars. He’s well respected and well paid ($26.5 million salary), but he’s seeking to break out from his almost-elite purgatory. He’s the sidekick in basketball’s second-best backcourt and his Portland Trail Blazers are down 2-0 to the world champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA Western Conference Finals.
A storyline that will persist throughout this series is that McCollum was offended by a half-hearted, half-joking comment Kevin Durant made on the Portland star’s Pull Up podcast. “You guys aren’t going to win the championship” is hardly an outrageous view across the NBA.
Still, it was an arrogant verbal slap that stung, a reminder that McCollum’s team was 0-8 for the past two postseasons.
McCollum is making light of the little dig by Durant, who missed the first two games of the conference championship with a strained calf. He will miss Game 3, Saturday (8 p.m. CST, ESPN) in Portland and the game after that. “His injury is worse than we thought,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Whether or not Durant is on the court, he will be on McCollum’s mind. And a chip on his shoulder. Joining the monkey on his back.
The Western Finals are the stage that showcases McCollum and his better-known backcourt buddy, Damian Lillard. They have an opportunity to prove they’re the equal of the Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
But so far it hasn’t happened. McCollum and Lillard are the Splat Brothers, falling on their face. In a 3-point Game 2 loss at the Oracle, McCollum wilted in the spotlight, shot 9-for-23. Lillard was no better, 6-for-16. They were both under 40% for both games 1 and 2. Their best guard in this series is Seth Curry, younger brother of Steph. Seth shot 5-of-9 Thursday, 4-of-7 on 3s.
As disappointing as Thursday’s loss was for the Blazers, they led by 17, and they were up by 8 with 4 minutes to go.
If Andre Iguodala doesn’t strip the ball from Lillard as he’s about to launch with 10 seconds left, we might be saying Portland is in command, having broken serve and gained homecourt advantage.
But we see again, as Lillard gracefully acknowledged, “They make the plays they need to make.” The Warriors are playing like champions, the Blazers like challengers.
Kerr is resourceful when he needs to be, and his bench has more resources than most of us thought. The 6-10 Jonas Jerebko was a rebounding force again, with 7 in 15 minutes. He also blocked a shot. If you’re wondering who stepped in for Durant, Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney — both 6-9, as is Durant — combined for 25 points, 10 rebounds in 43 minutes.
And with Durant out, Curry is unleashed, fully licensed to shoot at all times. Thursday night he scored 37, with 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
Even so, we could see a McCollum resurgence at home. He’s one of the game’s premier self-motivators, always eager to prove he’s a better player than most people think.
Tracy McGrady, Hall of Fame basketball guard, cites McCollum as a classic overachiever – “not the biggest, not the fastest, not the quickest, but he knows how to create space and get his shot off against anybody.”
McCollum averaged 26.4 points in Portland’s series against Denver. He took over Game 7, scoring the crucial baskets when Lillard was shooting 3-for-17. McCollum scored the game winner, fittingly enough, on a pull-up jump shot.
“C.J. is bringing back the midrange jumper,” Scottie Pippen observed on The Jump: “He’s smooth, classy, patient.”
He also played Game 7-changing defense: a chase-down block, with four minutes left, of a layup by Jamal Murray. “I just went and got it Bron-style,” McCollum said after the game, referring to a famous postseason block by LeBron James against Iguodala.
Giddy from their high-altitude upset in Denver, the Blazers saw redemption in the Oracle. They thought they’d wear down a team that had no KD to bar the door. But it turns out the Warriors are brilliantly assembled – props to general manager Bob Myers. And Kerr is an exceptional tactician when he employs his bargain-basement bench.
The Blazers must win two at home and steal one in the Oracle like they almost did Thursday night. It’s a lot to hope for, but if the Blazers somehow make it to a Game 7, McCollum could still get the last word on Durant.
