[jwplayer 1wscRAWR]
C.J. McCollum scored 29 points on Saturday to help lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 126-122 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference play-in game and a spot in the NBA Playoffs.
McCollum scored 14 points alone in the fourth quarter and came up with several clutch shots late to seal the victory. McCollum took advantage of Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and gave him eight points in the final three minutes of the game.
With Morant on him, and the Trail Blazers up by four points with over a minute left, McCollum pulled up from 21 feet out to drill the shot. McCollum then yelled a very NSFW message at Morant, nearly reminiscent of when Damian Lillard did the same to the Dallas Mavericks.
Warning: Tweet may contain explicit language
“HE CANT F**KING GUARD ME” – CJ pic.twitter.com/HAygPMm3kt
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) August 15, 2020
McCollum said afterward that the Trail Blazers wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and finish off the Grizzlies. Had the Trail Blazers lost, the two teams would have played again on Sunday. McCollum didn’t want it to come to that.
“I was thinking I didn’t want to play again tomorrow,” McCollum said in a post-game interview with Lisa Salters of ESPN. “We had to get this done tonight and make sure we came out and finished them off. We’re thankful that we were put in a position to be able to make the playoffs and we didn’t want to squander an opportunity.”
While the Trail Blazers took advantage of Morant on defense, the presumptive Rookie of the Year was magnificent in the second half, scoring 24 of his career-high 35 total points in the period. The performance by Morant kept the Grizzlies alive late but his effort was not enough.
McCollum and Morant shared a moment after the game as the two players showed each other respect. While McCollum got the best of him on Saturday, Morant figures to be around for a long time in the NBA.
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