CJ comeback
In the absence of Lillard and McCollum and Powell, Simmons Jr. became the Blazers' star, leading the team to a wave of three consecutive wins, and then for personal reasons, the Blazers lost to the Nuggets, but simmons Jr.'s first game after his return led the team to end the Washington Wizards' three-game winning streak, once again letting us see his ability to lead the team. This game, the Blazers will face the Orlando Magic, the team to the bottom of the East.
For the Portland Trail Blazers at this time, this is undoubtedly a good opponent. In addition, the Blazers also have good news, that is, CJ McCollum will return in this game, 44 days before his last appearance.
The course of the game
McCollum's first game of return, the first quarter of the 5 points, 2 assists and 1 block data, obviously, this is a good start, Nurkic is 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, the Blazers only scored 22 points in the first quarter, but the Magic only scored 17 points. After returning from the second quarter, Nurkic continued to dominate the interior, scoring 9 points and 6 rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting, and Little also had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
In the face of the Blazers' sudden rise, the Magic did not have the slightest way, still only scored 23 points in the second quarter, and at the end of the half, the Blazers led the Magic by 14 points at 54-40. In the second half, the Blazers' starting lineup did not have much movement, but McLemore on the bench broke out, three points 6 shots 3, single quarter to get 11 points 1 steal, leading the Blazers to take another 27 points, at the end of the third quarter, the difference between the two teams came to 20 points, the game can be said to basically lose suspense. After returning from the last quarter, the Magic did not give up.
In the face of the Magic's counterattack, CJ McCollum once again stepped forward, scoring 7 points on 3-of-5 shooting, and Simmons Jr. also had 4 points and 4 assists, successfully helping the team withstand the pressure. In the end, the Portland Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons 98-88 to win two consecutive games and the fourth victory in the last five games.
Post-match analysis
The Trail Blazers won the game, and they led by 24 points at one point, once again giving us a glimpse of the quality of this team. McCollum's first game of return after 44 days, 7 of 13 shooting, 4 of 4 three-pointers, 16 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, is still very amazing. Simmons Jr. had 13 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists, abdicating to give way. Nurkic had to eat and drink on the inside, bombarded 21 points, 22 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, plus or minus +23 for the first place in the team. Little also had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and McLemore had 14 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
Although the Pistons narrowed the point difference to 10 points in the final quarter, it can be seen that the gap between their strength and the Blazers is not small. Wagner Jr. got a team-high 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, but it took 18 shots, which shows that the team's road to reconstruction is heavy and long!