Lillard, a rare key in the league, has unfortunately suffered an injury this season, and the Portland Blazers' impressive results of reaching the playoffs for many years have finally been ended. And, as the regular season showdown draws to a close, they are still in the awkward state of losing 8 straight, almost losing their presence in the league's West. Yes, the team's star Lillard is out of the game due to injury, the second boss McCollum has been traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Blazers have no core players who can lead the team to win.
The rest of the season's regular season showdowns had to continue, and they moved to New Orleans to take on the Pelicans on the road. Admittedly, after the Pelicans got McCollum before the trade deadline this season, the offensive aggressiveness has improved significantly, and they have once again gained the opportunity to impact the playoffs. There is no doubt that they have torn off the label of the western fish belly and are no longer the team that everyone kneads. In this matchup, Ingram's inner right hamstring was tense and absent, and the Pelicans put the burden of leading the team to win on McCollum.
At the beginning of the game, the Pelicans, who played at home, did not give their opponents the opportunity to achieve the main victory, but took the lead in the state and got the initiative to take the lead. McCollum shot 3-of-4 from three-pointers and 4-of-7 from the field in the first quarter, delivering 11 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, and Valanciunas also had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist to help the team play a 32-28 score to take a five-point lead. Entering the second quarter, the Pelicans, who are in the lead, can still follow the trend and continue to widen the point difference between the two teams.
McCollum continued to threaten, and in the second quarter, he sent a comprehensive number of 4 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 2 steals, leading the team to a high state of full strength, and took an 8-point lead with a 32-24 score. By the end of the first half, the Pelicans were already 13 points ahead of the Trail Blazers. In the face of his old clubs who used to cultivate him, McCollum showed no mercy to his subordinates, but once showed his wisdom as a stadium commander. In the third quarter after Yibian's re-fight, the Pelicans also played a 36-24 score, once again taking a 12-point lead.
By the time it reached the crucial final quarter showdown, the point difference between the two sides had widened to 25 points, and there was no suspense in this game. The Pelicans, who maintained a lead in the score, did not choose to kill people, and the starters clocked in for three quarters, sending only rotating players to continue to consume the next game time. However, despite facing the Pelicans' bench, the Blazers were still not opponents, and they scored 26-18 in the final quarter. In the end, the fourth quarter was completed, and the Pelicans completed a 33-point victory with a 127-94 score.
McCollum, who only played three quarters, still scored the game's highest score of 23 points, as well as 4 rebounds and 7 assists, as well as a tough counterattack with 3 steals. After so many years on the portland team, McCollum came to the New Orleans Pelicans and was able to play the role of the stadium commander very well, which was really surprising. With the single-game scoring champion and the big winner with 33 points, should the Blazers fans be happy for him, or sad?