On April 29, Beijing time, the NBA Suns and the Pelicans played the first round of G6 games, the first quarter Ayton scored 10 points in 4 shots, Brandon Ingram scored 5 points, 3 boards and 5 assists in the single quarter, the first quarter finished 2 teams to tie, the second quarter Nance Jr. and Ingram worked together, 2 people scored 17 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in a total of 8 shots in the quarter, the Pelicans gained a 10-point lead, and the Pelicans shot 58.8% in the third quarter, but did not expect Chris Paul to score 13 points in a single quarter 6 shots. Unexpectedly, the Suns shot 75% of the shots under his leadership, and the Pelicans only led by 3 points in the third quarter.
In the final quarter, 2 teams attacked back and forth, in the last 2 minutes before the final game, Ingram scored 2 points to give the Pelicans a lead of 1 point, and then Ayton, Booker, Bridges joined hands to send a wave of 7-0, the Suns controlled the situation and stabilized the advantage to the end, and the final score was 115-109, the Suns won 6 points, that is, the wave of 7-0 let the Suns eliminate the Pelicans, the Pelicans could not beat the Suns is not surprising, after all, the regular season record gap is there, but behind the Pelicans' elimination, CJ McCollum's performance was indeed disappointing, and he was soft at a critical moment, so is it any wonder that the Blazers sent him away?
CJ McCollum is a quasi-All-Star, he once formed portland with Damian Lillard to form the Portland double gun, but in fact, his regular season performance is often good, his playoff performance is often very soft, he has been in the playoffs 10 times so far in his career, only 13-14 season of playoff shooting rate exceeds the regular season, that season CJ played 5 games in the playoffs, 4 of which were substitutes, the regular season performance was fierce, in the playoffs became a soft foot shrimp, this season of course is the same...
During the 21-22 regular season, CJ's average data in the Pelicans was 24.3 points + 4.5 rebounds + 5.8 assists + shooting rate of 49% + three-point shooting rate of 39%, and in the playoffs, his average data was only 22.2 points + 6.7 rebounds + 5 assists + shooting rate of 39.2% + three-point shooting rate of 33.3%, and in the key games of G5 and G6 that the Pelicans lost, his offensive data in the final quarters of the 2 games was 8 shots, 6 irons, 1 shot and 1 iron. The final quarter of the 2 key games combined is 9 shots and 7 iron, shooting 22.2%, last season CJ also played in the Battle of Tennoyama in the Blazers, that G6 game Lillard scored 55 points + 70.8% of the 24 shooting, CJ was 22 shots and 15 iron only scored 18 points + shooting 31.8%...
Damian Lillard can't take CJ, let alone the now young Brandon Ingram? The Pelicans can beat the Suns 2 games with a ninth-place record in the West, which is already very remarkable, but in addition to this, there is indeed a regret, if CJ can come up with the level of the regular season, the Pelicans have a reason to "black 9", after all, the Pelicans lost the Suns by 1.5 points in the first round of 6 games, of course, if CJ can really do it, it should have been done a few years ago, and that CJ-McCollum, it is estimated that the Pelicans will not be able to trade.
CJ McCollum's attributes make it difficult for him to become the absolute core of the team, and he has been soft too many times in the playoffs and key moments, which makes it difficult for him to become a stable 2 boss, which is far inferior to the Bucks' Middleton, the Blazers will trade him, on the one hand, it is really ready to rebuild, on the other hand, CJ's strength is difficult to bring the Blazers to improve, and from another point of view, if this Pelicans want to go further, in addition to expecting Cain Williamson's play or trading value, They seem to desperately need Ingram to go to a higher level?