Blazer superstar Damian Lillard sat out Saturday’s game versus the Atlanta Hawks, but it didn’t seem to matter as teammate CJ McCollum stepped up and recorded his first ever triple-double, with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Seth Curry continued his strong play as well with a season-high 22 points. The game was close throughout, but the Blazers led most of the time and appeared to be in control. The Hawks aren’t a particularly good team, but it was still nice to see the Blazers find a way to win without their team leader Lillard on the the floor. The final score was 120-111.
Seth Curry started in place of Lillard, who had a sore knee, with CJ McCollum moving over to point guard. This unit worked well, producing 40 points in the first quarter. Atlanta stuck around though, closing the gap and taking a one point lead into halftime. Atlanta’s Vince Carter, the oldest player in the NBA, celebrated his 42and birthday on this night. The legendary Carter still looked good, draining a couple of crucial three pointers which kept Atlanta in the game.
All of Portland’s starting five played well, with everyone scoring at least 15 points. Moe Harkless, who has been up and down this season, had one of his better games, scoring 16 and grabbing five rebounds. But the big story was CJ McCollum, who almost always comes up big when Lillard sits out. He’d never notched a triple-double though, and with Nurkic also performing the feat a few games back, this makes the first time two different Blazers have recorded a triple-double in the same season since 1988. McCollum completed the trifecta with only a few seconds remaining in the game, firing a no look pass to a cutting Moe Harkless for his tenth assist. The crowd, who had been watching the stats carefully, gave a big cheer. Lillard, in street clothes on the sidelines, congratulated his teammate as he exited the game.
This win keeps the Blazers in 4th place, just a half game behind big rivals OKC and a game and a half ahead of bigger rivals the Houston Rockets. The Blazers play the up-and-coming Utah Jazz in Portland on Wednesday, in what should be a close and hard fought game. In the meantime, why not have a look at the highlights from CJ’s big night?
First career triple-double for Christian James!
Watch highlights from @CJMcCollum‘s big Saturday night 🎥 pic.twitter.com/h2J8DKw4iE
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 27, 2019