cj mcollum

Casey Holdahl

As a boy growing up in Canton, Ohio, CJ McCollum only had one plan: to make it to the NBA. It seemed farfetched to many, a group which included some of his teachers, who had surely heard students before McCollum declare such goals only to eventually fall well short, and teammates who questioned whether he was even good enough to make the team at GlenOak High School by his own merits.

And to be fair, McCollum’s detractors did have a point. Standing at 5-7 and weighing somewhere well south of 150 pounds, McCollum didn’t really look the part of future NBA player, nor did he necessarily possess the skills at the time. He failed to make varsity his freshman year, and while he did get the bump up from JV the next season, he played sparingly. So realistically, if you were to ask someone in Canton about a McCollum going on to play in college at that time, let alone in the NBA, they most certainly would have assumed you were talking about CJ’s older brother Errick, who started at GlenOak and would later go on to be named a four-time D-II All-American at Goshen College.

“My brother was really good at basketball and played varsity, so my freshman year I’m on junior varsity and a lot of people would say I was only playing because of my brother,” said the younger McCollum. “They’d say ‘You’re only on JV because your brother is the starting point guard’ this and that. It kind of pissed me off, so I just used that as motivation. I always used to tell my brother — I was Errick’s little brother — I told him ‘One day you’re going to be CJ’s older brother’ and he’d just laugh. He’s like ‘I hope so!’ because that’s the kind of relationship we had.”

Even though Errick might have been the only one to believe him, the lack of faith never prompted CJ to downgrade his expectations nor consider a more feasible plan. It was always NBA or bust for McCollum, a tact he made peace with long before he signed a four-year extension this summer with the Trail Blazers worth roughly $106 million.

“I had that dog in me, just wanted to be great, wanted to kind of prove I belonged because I was a lot smaller than other people.” said McCollum of his first two years at GlenOak. “Teachers telling me ‘You need a Plan B. You’re small, you know the chances of you making it are slim.’ I would tell them ‘My Plan B is Plan A. I make it to the NBA and everything else will fall in line. The degree will take care of itself, I’ll build a resume, but without the NBA, there is no Plan B for me.’”

Which seems a bit reckless, though it’s hard to argue with the results. And there were players who had similar backgrounds to McCollum who gave him the confidence to reach for his incredibly lofty goals. Granted, those players had more going for them than McCollum did at the time, but they still served as models nonetheless for what a kid from Canton could achieve.

“I just remember watching and going to to Cavs games early on as a youngster, being able to see LeBron, playing for King James, seeing LeBron play and just watching his demeanor, his approach to the game,” said McCollum. “Warmups, the fans, how his family reacted and just saying ‘I can’t wait to be in a position to make that kind of impact on the community.’ LeBron being from Ohio, me being from Ohio, I was always able to watch him, watch how he approached everything, watch his business strategies and how he was able to grow his brand. So for me, it was simple. It was like, LeBron is kind of laying the platform for kids from Ohio. You work hard, you do what you’re supposed to do and you can make it to this level, because he grew up 10, 15 minutes from me going to St. (Vincent’s).

“So I was able to watch him and some other guys like Keith McCleod, Kosta Koufous, watching them work hard and get results. So my idea was just work hard, don’t worry about anybody else, don’t worry about distractions, don’t worry about obstacles, injuries. Just do your job, focus on you. You need to have that trust, that faith in yourself and God that everything else will handle itself.”

Though there were moments when it seemed like that faith might not be enough. While he swears he never experienced full-blown doubt  about whether he’d be able to follow in the footsteps of players like James and Koufos (which isn't hard to believe if you've spent any time around him), there was a sense that perhaps things weren’t going as well as they could be. But the combination of redoubling his efforts and undergoing a growth spurt midway through high school put him back on the right path.

“My sophomore year when I didn’t start varsity, I was coming off the bench, sixth man, and that was when I was like ‘Alright, I’m a little behind,’” said McCollum. “You start to look at the trajectory levels of where you’re at — I’m a realist — averaging 6.0 points a game on varsity, I’m 5-7 and I really need to take my game to the next level if I want to make this dream a reality. So I just kind of focused. I evaluated my lifestyle, my work ethic, reevaluated how I could kind of get better and find my niche. Continued to shoot, shoot, shoot, handle, perfect my craft so once I grew a little bit more and got my chance to start varsity, I just told myself ‘This is it. If you leave everything out here, you give yourself the best chance to get a scholarship.’ Then for me, it was baby steps. Get a Division I scholarship and then get to the league, but I hadn’t got that scholarship yet, so I wasn’t even thinking about the league. I was like ‘Just get this scholarship.’ I got my first offer and I was like ‘Alright, we got one, let’s get some more.’ That’s kind of how it went, it kind of snowballed.”

His junior year, McCollum started and scored a school-record 54 points in the first game of the season. His senior year, he would be named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Ohio and finished runner-up to Jared Sullinger for Ohio’s Mr. Basketball. Then it was on to Lehigh, where he started all but the first two games of his collegiate career, led the Mountain Hawks to an upset victory versus Duke in the NCAA Tournament and ultimately won Patriot League Player of the Year twice.

So by the start of his junior year, it was fairly obvious McCollum would at least get a crack at the NBA despite having his final collegiate season cut short due to a broken foot. In the end, Plan A, the only plan McCollum ever had, was fully realized when he was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 10th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. And while being a max-level player wasn’t in CJ’s initial plans, he was nonetheless overjoyed to sign on the dotted line this summer rather than testing his fortunes as a restricted free agent in 2017.

“I’m just really thankful, thankful that the organization has been patient with me, they’ve trusted me, they’ve given me opportunities,” said McCollum. “Obviously it’s a dream come true to be able to get an extension of that magnitude. To get that trust and that commitment from an organization is huge, it’s everything a player looks for and everything a player works for. So it’s very comforting to know that they’re willing to go to those measures to secure an extension and keep me here long term. I’m thankful because this is exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be here long term, I want to continue to get better, continue to grow and be a part of this city, on and off the floor.”

But now McCollum has new plans, or at least more varied plans than the singular all-or-nothing approach he took as a young man growing up in northeast Ohio. Few have taken advantage of the opportunities afforded to professional athletes like McCollum has in his first three season, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down despite the fact that he now has, as he puts it, “generational wealth.”

“I laid out a plan early on about what I want to do in the community, what I want to do off the court,” said McCollum. “Launching my journalism program, CJ’s Press Pass, incremental steps that I had planned as we continue to get closer to 25, get closer to 30. I’ve got a lot of things lined up, I’m happy everything is falling into place. Obviously basketball is my priority, that’s my love and my joy and how I make a living, but I want to leave a legacy besides basketball and I think I’ll be in a position to do that. I’m just taking advantage of these platforms and writing, continue to build my resume. I’ve got a lot of stuff planned this year, it’s going to be a great year on and off the court. Just thankful because it’s been a long process and a long journey, but it’s all paid off.”

Though McCollum is quick to point out that this journey isn’t anywhere close to completed. It’s true that he is set for life financially — or at least he will be once his extension kicks in come the start of the 2017-18 season — and his position as Portland’s starting shooting guard is all but assured, barring injury, for the next half decade. But as he has grown from the scrawny kid who was known primarily as “Errick’s little brother” to the man he is today, so too have his expectations going forward. Just having an NBA career, even one which has made him incredibly wealthy, is no longer enough.

“I’m driven by legacy, I’m driven by my last name, I’m driven by where I come from,” said McCollum. “I don’t want to be known as a guy who got paid and then fell off. I don’t want to be know as a guy who they say ‘He was really good early and then he kind of faltered late.’ I want them to say ‘He consistently got better each year. He loved this game. He never changed. He’s the same guy from 16 to 26 to 36. He never changed, he’s just a little bit more mature, but he does the same things, he has the same friends, he acts the same way, he treats people the same way. He treats the janitor like he treats the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.’ I think based on how I was raised, I was raised to never be content and continue to seek the ultimate amount of success, and that’s just not money. Money doesn’t always define success. You need to find that happiness and for me, happiness is working out, giving myself the best chance to put my best foot forward. I think that’s huge, putting a good product on the court, representing where I come from — Canton, Ohio — representing Lehigh University every time I step on the court, every time I leave the house.”

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McCollum Proves You Don't Always Need A Backup Plan

Less than 12 hours after being eliminated from the postseason, the Trail Blazers returned to their practice facility in Tualatin to meet with the coaches to discuss offseason plans, clean out their lockers and take questions from the media one last time before starting their vacations.

Here's the audio and a few quotes from Terry Stotts and the players from today's exit interviews...

"Like I said last night, this has been a special season. This group of players, what they were able to do individually and collectively, our chemistry was really good. We had good guys, they got along, players and coaches. It means a lot and it goes both ways. It was a joy. I think players enjoyed coming to work every day and I know the coaches and staff did, too."

On whether this was his most rewarding season as a head coach...

"No question. This was an extremely rewarding season because it kind of played out the way we wanted it to. And we're not talking about the record or the playoffs, everything was about growth, improvement, getting better throughout the season and being better at the end of the season. I think we did that individually and collectively and from a coaching standpoint, that's as pure as it gets. That's what coaching is about. You don't get to experience that very much at the NBA level."

On whether he expects anyone on his staff to be interviewed for various open head coaching positions...

"I hope so. I can't say enough about how good my staff is. I think Jay Triano and Nate Tibbetts and David Vanterpool are all ready to be considering for head coaching jobs. I think they're all prepared to do a great job as a head coach depending on whatever a team is looking for. I hope they get consideration because they're all very deserving.

On many of his teammates deciding to stay in Portland during the offseason...

"That means a lot because I stay here every summer. I'm used to coming in here like 'I wonder when everybody else coming back to town,' you know what I mean? The trainers are here, the coaches are here and it's an empty gym. And even after the game last night, on the plane, I started getting worried already. I was sitting on the plane like 'Man, we had some success this year, it was unexpected it was no pressure. Next year people gonna expect a little bit more' and I started to get worried about too many pats on the back. 'They weren't supposed to do this but they did that.' I started getting worried, but we don't have those kind of guys. We've got hungry guys, we've got humble guys that work hard. We had a taste this season as a young group of how well we could do and what it takes. We lost to a really experienced, championship team. That makes me happy to hear that so many guys are going to be here working out in the summer because that lets me know that they see how close we are and they see how important it's going to be going forward."

On free agency and having a say in the process...

"I'm pretty sure they'll communicate what the plans are with me, but like I've said in the past, my job is to be a good teammate, to make sure I put in my time and become a better player and that's what I'll do. They ask me my opinion on something, I'll give them my honest opinion, but I love all the guys that we have on our roster now. I think going forward, if we continue to grow together, we'll be a good team. Obviously it's a business and rosters change, players make decisions for themselves, so when that time comes, we'll see what happens. But when they come to me ask for my opinion or what I think about something, I'll tell them what I think."

"Any pay raise is going to be significantly higher than what I’m making now. But like I said earlier, it’s just situation really for me. It doesn’t make sense to make a lot of money and go to a team that, if you don’t fit that system, then get paid a lot of money to be frustrated? That doesn’t make sense to me. The culture here, it’s great. I know this organization well, I know the system, know the coaches, players. It’s just real comfortable here. I wouldn’t mind being here, I really wouldn’t. It’s really just coming down to situation and how I can continue to improve as a basketball player."

"Definitely think he should get an extension. I feel like everybody here knows that he should get an extension. He’s done a great job with this team. It’s really hard to put into words what he did with this group because nobody expected us to do what we did. Even from Day One, even through the games where we were 11-20, seven-game losing streak, he never folded and he always told us it’s all about trusting the process and we stuck with that throughout this whole year."

On spending time in Portland this offseason...

"I think, for one, it doesn't rain a lot in the summer, so that helps. Just being around the facility, 24 hour access, you're able to get a lot of things done without a distraction. You go home, you go to certain cities, you either got to pay to get in the gym or you've got to worry about people interrupting you while you workout. I go back to my high school but sometimes I've got to just like lock the door so I can just workout and not have to worry about certain interruptions because you can't get through a full workout when people are coming in, talk to you. It's meant to be a compliment to you, it's hard. So I think it helps that here, you just come in, the doors are locked, you've got your finger scan, you workout when you want, the weather is nice. You're paying rent here anyway, so it makes sense."

On the camaraderie of the roster and the changes that might be in store...

"I think we had a really unique group. They did a great job of putting together like minds, young guys who are easy to talk to. Nobody is really arrogant or overly cocky. We've got some ignorant guys on the team that you guys guys know who's outlandish with his statements. I won't put him out there, he knows who he is. Besides that, we all got along well, everybody spoke their minds, nobody was afraid to say certain things. If somebody played bad, if somebody wasn't doing things the right way, you could address it and nobody would frown or look at you the wrong way. So I like the way our team is put together, I like the work ethic everybody had. This is one of the rare teams where you could hang out with players off the court. Everybody's got their friends, but I could hang out with any one of the 15 guys off the court and be perfectly comfortable, eat dinner, et cetera... We've got a really good unit and a lot of guys made themselves some money this year, a lot of guy's prices went up. Hopefully we can rekindle the flame, but if not, we had a good run, we had a good year together collectively and wish everybody the best of luck in the free agency process.

On how he's approaching restricted free agency...

"To be honest with you, I haven't had a real concrete conversation with my agent about this. I wanted it to be, right now, about my rehab and about supporting the guys, being there however I could, I guess more from an emotional standpoint, for the team. I certainly wish I could have been out there. With that being said, I'm sure we'll talk within the next couple of days about how we're going to really approach this, the timing of things, I suppose what teams are interested, what teams would maybe like to meet in person. I don't have a concrete plan at this point. Restricted free agency, it gets a little hairy, it takes time, teams maybe don't want to tie their money up. I honestly don't know all the ins and outs of it. Like I said before the season when I didn't accept an extension, I'm confident in where I'm at. It's my agent's job to present whatever he has on his mind and what's on my plate from that side of things. My job right now is simply to rehab my shoulder, continue to work on my leg strength, which is a huge focus of mine for this summer, and just figure out different way in the weight room or out here, even simple things as ball handling, just trying to improve as a player and as a man."

On why he's going to spend much of the offseason in Portland...

"I'm coming back to Portland just because went through all that rain, got to enjoy some of the sun. I like it here. I'm renting a spot, so I'm just going to stay here. I like Todd (Forcier) and BK (Ben Kenyon) and those guys, so definitely going to put a lot of work in in the weight room. It's always good vibes here so I don't think guys want to get away. Some teams, you want to get away just because you don't like certain people. It's not like that here. I enjoyed being here so that's why I'm going to stick around and do most of my training out here."

On the realities of keeping a roster with multiple free agents together...

"It's going to be tricky with all the salary cap stuff going on. I think a lot of the guys who are free agents definitely raised their value. I think everyone did. You never know. I hope all those guys get paid well, I think they will. They deserve it. You just never know with free agency, who they go after and things like that, but I hope everybody comes back, but that's not really realistic. It doesn't really work like that in the league. I just tried to enjoy that time yesterday because I've been around a little bit and I know how the business side of things work."

On his mindset going into the offseason...

"This summer is big for me, become more of a scoring threat. I think there's a lot to be added. I look forward, if the opportunity is there, to come back to have some stability from a staff perspective. I would look forward to coming back to a similar situation from one season to the next. I've played for three coaches in three years, so I think that would be something I'd look forward to as well... Once you've been traded, you never know."

"Free agency is something I haven't really thought about. I've tried not to think about it during the season and we just finished yesterday, so it hasn't really been on my mind yet. It's something that we'll have to think about soon."

I loved it. It was by far the most fun season I've had. These guys here are great, the organization is great. I really, really enjoyed it and looking forward to seeing what happens this summer."

"It's the most fun year I think I've had as a pro. We had a great group of guys, high character guys, silly guys and it was a fun year. That's without even being on the court. On the court, we had a special group. We came together halfway through, really made it a special year all the way until last night when we're playing against the champions, gave them all we had. Played a tough series, obviously it didn't end the way that we wanted it to, but it's a year we're all proud of."

His thoughts on entering free agency and what he's looking for...

This is my second time doing it and it'll be a little different than the first time. I think getting a taste of what this year and this postseason was like and how much fun, how competitive it is, I think, number one, being on a team that's a winning team. It's obviously tough to get on one of the elite elite teams, but that could be a possibility. That could easily be a possibility here. Being on a team that is about winning and that's a good fit for me.

On his first season with the Trail Blazers...

"It was an amazing journey of growth. We grew a lot throughout the season, personally and as a team. It was just fun to be a part of it."

How he looks back on the season in terms of enjoyment...

The season was great. Any time you have guys that are the same age, it just makes it a lot easier to get along. It's easy to have relatable points, different things like that. A lot of us are going through similar things in our careers so you get to relate on that note. When it came to comfortably in that sense, it was just unbelievable. And then I think that's why the chemistry was there as well. Even our vets and the older guys like Chris Kaman, they were a joy to be around as well. From top to bottom, everybody was kind of in that same wavelength of what they were trying to do. It just made it easy to get along.

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Trail Blazers Talk Season, Free Agency During Exit Interviews

While none of the Trail Blazers would go so far as to call Game Three of their first round playoff series versus the Los Angeles Clippers a must-win, they all knew the reality of what it means to go down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series. No NBA team has ever come back from that deficit to advance to the next round, and the way the first two games went, it would be hard to argue the Trail Blazers would be the first team to do so.

So late in the fourth quarter of Saturday night's game at the Moda Center, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard got his teammates together and asked them a question. He probably already knew the answer, but he asked the question just the same, as there is little room for error or ambiguity when going up against a formidable opponent while trailing in a playoff series.

"Everybody’s season is on the line right now," said Lillard. "I think there was about two minutes left and there was like a dead ball and I huddled the guys up and I said ‘Are y’all ready to go home? If we don’t finish this out, that’s where we’re going to be headed.’"

Lillard evidently got the answer he was looking for, as the Trail Blazers closed out Game Three on a 15-1 run to come away with a 96-88 victory and force at least a Game Five in Los Angeles. He didn't raise his voice any higher than he need to be heard over the sound of the Moda Center crowd, didn't make any bold proclamations about their potential legacies being sullied or their season before for naught. He just asked a simple question and received equally simple responses.

"We were just talking to each other, all calm," said Maurice Harkless of the late-game huddle. "There was emotion in the words, but we weren’t yelling at each other. We were just talking to each other... We all were like, 'We’ve got to win this game, we gonna do whatever it takes to win.'"

For Harkless, that meant turning two offensive rebounds into two putback dunks in the final minutes of the game. For Mason Plumlee, it was keeping DeAndre Jordan off the boards. And for CJ McCollum, it was hitting a three-pointer that started Portland's game-ending run.

"He just said what everybody was thinking: We ain’t trying to go home yet," said CJ McCollum. "'We’re up right now but we’ve got to make sure we close this game out, don’t get too comfortable. Finish the game and then go home and rest.'"

Which is what they did, and what they'll now be able to do before Game Four on Monday at the Moda Center.

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Trail Blazers Answer The Question In Game Three Win

The Portland Trail Blazers start the first of a road-and-home back-to-back Friday night in Oakland in a game versus the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena (tipoff scheduled for 7:30 pm on CSNNW and Rip City Radio 620 AM). Some topics of note from that upcoming matchup...

• For most fans and probably a good segment of the players, Portland's 137-105 blowout victory versus Golden State at the Moda Center on February 19 was the high-water mark of the 2015-16 season. Led by 51 points from Damian Lillard, which was the first time the 6-3 guard out of Weber State hit the half century mark in scoring, the Trail Blazers jumped all over the defending NBA champs in the first game for either team after the 2016 All-Star break, building a 19-point lead in the first half before coasting to a 32-point victory. It was just the fifth time all season that a team managed to best the Warriors, something only one team, the Lakers, have done since then.

But while the Warriors might be a bit more motivated for Friday night's game due to the way the last meeting went, it's hard to imagine a team that has lost just six times all season, and not once on their home court, is going to do much adjusting for a team three games above .500.

"I think they’ve been pretty consistent, they’ve only lost six times," said Lillard of the Warriors. "I think it’s safe to say they’re going to be the same team that they’ve been all year. That night we just played really well. Coming off All-Star break everybody usually comes back with a little bit of rust. That night was just our night. I’m sure that they probably had a little bit of a sour taste in they mouth about how it happened. But at this point we expect everybody’s best and they should expect ours, too."

While the Trail Blazers won the most recent matchup, the Warriors handled Portland 128-108 in the first meeting of the season series back on January 8 and swept the 2014-15 season series 3-0, which might have been why some of Golden State's players seemed to write off the loss as a fluke (and to be fair, considering their record, every loss this season fits the definition of a fluke). But all of the Warriors losses this season have come against teams well behind them in the league standings, so it stands to reason that defeating Golden State this year does take a bit of luck.

"It’s the NBA, nobody is above getting beat, nobody is above getting blown out," said Lillard. "It happens to the best, it happens to the worst. It’s the best league in the world. Obviously (Golden State) will come back and want to have a different result, but anything can happen. We played well that night and we were the better team that night. That can change on any given night."

What probably can't change, at least if the Trail Blazers are to have a chance of handing the Warriors their first home loss this season, is the play of Lillard. The point guard in his fourth season is averaging 33.2 points per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent shooting from three since the All-Star break, and they'll need him to have the same kind of performance in Friday night's as he had in the last game versus Golden State in order to be the first team to best the reigning champs twice this season.

"The first game we played them they got the best of us and I feel like the second game we got the best of them," said Allen Crabbe. "Obviously they’re going to change some things up that we did really good, but if we have another 50-point performance from Dame then I’m pretty sure we’ll be in another good spot to win the game."

• It's been well over a calendar year since the Golden State Warriors lost a regular season game at Oracle Arena, a home winning streak that spans an NBA-record 46 games. They lost at home to both the Grizzlies and Cavaliers during their 2015 playoff run that culminated with an NBA championship, but not since January 2015 have they suffered a regular season loss on their home court.

"It’s one of the best venues I’ve ever played at," said CJ McCollum of Oracle Arena in Oakland. "The experience of going to the Finals last year and seeing their support against the Cavs was amazing. It was a really good experience for me to be able to watch from the stands. And then playing there is always fun, it has like a college atmosphere. It’s loud, there’s a lot of ruckus, they’re standing up, yelling threes and all that stuff."

Portland's last win at Oracle -- a 113-101 come from behind victory on November 23, 2013 -- was a memorable one for multiple reasons. It featured a third-quarter fight in which then-Trail Blazers Wesley Matthews and Mo Williams were ejected along with Golden State's Draymond Green. It also extended Portland's win streak to 10 games, a streak that would eventually end at 11 games and which still endures as their longest win streak since winning 13 games in a row early in the 2007-08 seasons.

• While Oracle is undoubtedly a difficult place to play, many of Portland's players still look forward to games versus Golden State in Oakland.

"Just walking around San Francisco sometimes people will still recognize me," said Allen Crabbe, who played his college ball in Berkeley at Cal. "It’s always good to go back to the Bay, I really enjoyed it out there. It’s definitely kind of like a second home to me when I got back out there and play, so it is exciting going back to the Bay. Playing Golden State too, so that’s a big game as well, so it’s pretty exciting for me."

But of course, the trip is the most special for Damian Lillard, who grew up in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Oakland known as Brookfield. Friday's game is Portland's first on Golden State's court this season, which is something of an oddity considering there's just a little more than a month left before the end of the regular season. And apparently that absence has made Lillard's heart grow fonder for the prospect of playing close to his childhood home.

"It’s weird because this year it’s so late in the season and we haven’t gone there yet," said Lillard. "We’ve had a great season so I’m excited. I think I’m more excited this time going back than I have been since my rookie year. It’s going to be fun."

Friday's game will be the first time that Lillard has had an opportunity to play in Oakland as the unquestioned leader and best player on an NBA team. Already one of the NBA's young stars (despite not having the All-Star appearance to show for it this season), Lillard has elevated his game this season as the only returning starter from Portland's 2014-15 roster, with the result being an unexpected playoff push despite most predictions placing the Trail Blazers at the bottom of the league. So Friday's contest serves as the first chance for his family and friends to see how far he's come firsthand.

"It’s a big game for us," said Lillard. "They haven’t lost at home so it’s an opportunity for us to go there and be the first team to do it. My family and a lot of my people back home haven’t seen me play this year and I want them to see an improved player. They’ve seen it from a distance. I’m looking forward to getting back."

One could imagine that some of his childhood friends might have conflicting rooting interests Friday night, but according to Lillard, their loyalty to him trumps Golden State's recent success.

"Everybody is excited about what (the Warriors) are doing, but everybody that I grew up with and people in my family, they Damian Lillard fans first, Warriors fans second," said Lillard. "That’s just what it is."

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Trail Blazers Head To Golden State For The First Time This Season With Something To Prove

CJ McCollum knew exactly where he was going when he received the ball with a little over 12 seconds to play in regulation and Portland trailing 104-102 to the Wizards Tuesday night at the Moda Center. He knew he had to get something good to send the game to overtime, and he knew where to go to get it.

"Left elbow, that’s where I was going," said McCollum. "That’s my spot."

But while McCollum knew the destination, he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to get there. But one of the reasons the 6-4 guard in his third season out of Lehigh has been such a lethal scoring option this season is because of that uncertainty. When you possess the kind of moves that McCollum does, you don't bother concocting some kind of plan of attack. You simply decide where you're going, then let instinct take over.

"I think you just react," said McCollum. "I know spots on the court I want to get to, so just do a move to get to a spot and read and react based on the defense and how they’re shading you and playing you."

So McCollum sized up his defender, Washington's Garrett Temple, then crossed over from right to left, throwing off Temple's balance just enough to give McCollum a lane to the rim. McCollum took a couple left hand dribbles before stopping on a dime at the left elbow, a move that prompted Temple to trip over his own feet and fall into his teammate Jared Dudley.

With both defenders now out of position, McCollum was able to calmly fadeaway for the 17-foot jumper, a shot that would tie the score at 104-104 and eventually, with the help of a Gerald Henderson block on Marcin Gortat, send the game to overtime, where Portland would go on to win 116-109.

"I’ve got confidence in myself down the stretch to make shots no matter how I'm playing in the game," said McCollum. "Dame and the rest of the guys are confident in me."

As they should be, if for no other reason than they've seen firsthand in practices just how crafty a scorer and ballhandler McCollum is. They've seen him going through drills in an effort to improve his handle, but they've also seen more than most his innate ability to use timing and rhythm to get defenders off balance. While some of that can be learned, McCollum says that at a certain point, you either have that kind of wiggle or you don't.

"Just fluidity-wise, you’re born with good movement, having a good sense of center, being able to move and do a lot of things off balance," said McCollum. "And then you just continue to work on it. Some guys aren’t built for ballhandling, some guys just don’t have the fluidity or the skill, the hand-eye coordination. But I think some of it can be acquired in terms of learning right to left crossovers, stepbacks. Stuff can be acquired with a lot of preparation in practice."

Which is true, but it's hard to imagine that the quality that allows a player like McCollum to perceive the exact moment when his defender is at his most vulnerable can be taught. Perhaps one can acquire the muscle memory that affords a ballhandler the ability to keep his defender off balance, but those moves will never be as fluid as those executed by players with a nearly indistinguishable knack for predicting motion on the court.

"I think it’s very instinctual," said Terry Stotts. "I think that great players kind of have an idea of what they want to do but they react quicker to the defense and that’s what makes them who they are."

Everyone knows that there are genetic advantages that some players are born with that make them ideal candidates for basketball. Having long arms and legs, big hands and wide-set shoulders gives an individual a better chance of making it to the NBA than most, but those are not the only inborn traits that can set a player on the path to success at the highest levels of sport. There are more difficult to quantify attributes, such as high-eye coordination and balance, that McCollum possesses which have helped him overcome deficiencies in some of the more traditionally sought-after measurables.

"I’m blessed and fortunate to be able to do a lot of things," said McCollum. "I’m not 6-8, 240 pounds with a 40-inch vertical, so I have to be able to do other stuff."

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McCollum Knows Where He's Going, Not Necessarily How He'll Get There

PORTLAND -- It's probably too early in the season to spend much time scoreboard watching with an eye on the the Western Conference standings. But after the Trail Blazers' 112-97 victory versus the Kings in front of a sellout crowd of 19,390 Tuesday night at the Moda Center, there's nothing wrong with pointing out the obvious: If the playoff started today, the Trail Blazers would be in.

"It sounds good today," said Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard of Portland's current standing in the West. "Everybody in here would like to stay in that spot, maybe move up. We've just got to stick with it. You can't act like we made the playoffs just because if it started today we'd be in."

Tuesday night's win moved the Trail Blazers into the 8th spot in the West with a 21-26 record overall and a 12-10 mark at home this season. The win is Portland's fourth-straight versus the Kings and their fifth consecutive home win.

Tuesday's game was a close affair through the first half. Portland build a seven-point lead in the first quarter and a nine-point lead in the second, though Sacramento was always able to answer. It was until late in the third quarter that the Trail Blazers were able to extend their lead to double digits. Portland outscored Sacramento 14-7 in the final 3:19 of the third to take a 14-point lead into the fourth. From there, Portland would extend their lead to as many as 22 before winning by 15 against a team that was obviously gassed after losing in double overtime the night before.

"We started off pretty strong," said CJ McCollum. "I think defensively we had a really good second quarter, kept them under 100 for our defensive rating for the quarter. We knew as the game wore on they'd be a little more tired. Cousins had a heavy load in that double overtime, so wanted to try run them as much as we could after we got stops. I think, down the stretch, we did a better job of getting stops and getting easy baskets."

The Trail Blazers had seven players finish in double figures Tuesday night for the first time this season. McCollum led the way with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field , five assists and a rebound in 29 minutes. Lillard, who assisted on seven of Portland's first 10 field goals, finished with 15 points, a career-high tying 13 assists and five rebounds in just under 33 minutes.

While the backcourt led the team in scoring, it was Portland's big man platoon that made the biggest difference Tuesday night. Along with holding Kings center DeMarcus Cousins to his worst shooting night of the season (17 points on 4-of-21 shooting), Portland's power forwards and centers combined to score 41 of Portland's 112 points.

"Our bigs did a great job," said Lillard. "They played physical from the jump. They took the challenge... We have to give a lot of credit to our bigs for how physical they played. They challenged shots, they took fouls when they needed to. They just did a great job and that gave us a chance to win."

Mason Plumlee finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes, Noah Vonleh had one of his best performance in the NBA with 10 points, seven assists and a career-high tying two blocks in 22 minutes. Ed Davis went 4-of-5 from the field to finished with 11 points and four rebounds. And Meyers Leonard played 24 minutes, with much of that time spent fighting in the block with Cousins, to finish with nine points and seven rebounds.

"(Cousins) is a very good player, able to score in many ways – down on the block, on the perimeter, etcetera," said Leonard. "But I thought for the most part, I did a good job on him and the rest of the guys did a good job on him – the guards digging, double team schemes a couple times, so we were really locked in to what we needed to do tonight and it was just a great team effort."

Cousins was reluctant to give Leonard and the Trail Blazers the credit for his poor shooting night after scoring a combined 104 points in the previous two games before Tuesday's loss.

"I could tell what their scheme was: to try to frustrate me," said Cousins. "Leonard took advantage of the situation a little bit more. If you want to credit them, go ahead. A lot of shots didn’t fall. I don’t feel like we had a good flow offensively. There’s a lot of factors there. Even with that being said, early in the game, I thought we had a good chance to pull in a win. We just didn’t."

Portland got stellar production from their reserve wings Tuesday night as well, with Gerald Henderson scoring 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and Allen Crabbe adding 13 points and three rebounds on 27 minutes.

Kings point guard Rajon Rondo finished with 15 points and 11 assists and rookie Willie Cauley-Stein added 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

Next up, the Trail Blazers continue their longest homestand of the season by hosting Nicolas Batum at the Charlotte Hornets Friday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm.

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Trail Blazers Move To 8th, Extend Win Streak Versus Kings

PORTLAND -- After being blown out in their first two games without Damian Lillard, some were probably wondering if the Trail Blazers were capable of winning even one game with their starting point guard sidelined with plantar fasciitis.

The Portland Trail Blazers, playing the fifth-consecutive game without Lillard, had five player score in double figures to extend their winning streak by defeating the Denver Nuggets 110-103 Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 19,393 at the Moda Center.

"It was good to get another win at home," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "I think overall it was a good game for us. We had different areas that I think we struggled with all night – our defensive rebounding in the first quarter, controlling the ball a little bit, a bad stretch with some turnovers – but on the whole, we bounced back. Every time something wasn’t going right, we kind of bounced back. It got crazy with the small lineups but I liked the way we finished and it’s good to have three in a row."

The Trail Blazers have now won three-straight for just the second time this season and are 13-2 in their last 15 games versus the Nuggets at the Moda Center. Portland moves to 14-20 overall and and 8-6 at the home this season.

"Just shows that everybody is stepping up, stepping up and everybody is playing with confidence," said Allen Crabbe of Portland's recent success sans Lillard. "I feel like that game against Cleveland helped us gain our confidence. We’ve been playing great defense lately as a team and I feel like our defense is helping us offensively. We’re out there moving the ball, executing and the game is just fun for us right now.”

After a close first quarter that featured eight lead changes, the Trail Blazers used a 13-2 run at the start of the second quarter to take an 11-point lead with 6:17 to play in the first half. But the Nuggets, as they would do all night, managed to chip away at Portland's lead in the next six minutes to cut the lead to 58-51 going into the intermission.

In the third, the Trail Blazers would go on a 16-5 run, which featured back-to-back threes from Crabbe, to take their largest lead of the night at 16 with just over four minutes to play in the quarter. They'd retain most of that lead and went into the fourth quarter up 84-71.

Portland would once again push the lead to 16 after a Maurice Harkless three with eight minutes to play in regulation, giving the impression that perhaps the Trail Blazers could conserve some energy going into the second night of a back-to-back. But Denver, and particularly former Trail Blazer Will Barton, wouldn't go away quietly. Barton, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, led a charge that cut Portland's lead to 98-93 with 4:26 to play in regulation.

But the Trail Blazers, a team that has taken a considerable amount of heat this season for blowing fourth quarter opportunities, scored the next five points to reclaim a double-digit lead. The Nuggets would inject a little nervousness into the sellout crowd by getting the deficit to 105-100 with 37 seconds to play, but Al-Farouq Aminu, Meyers Leonard and Mason Plumlee thwarted any serious comeback attempt by making their free throws in the waning moments of the game.

"We closed another one out," said Leonard. "In Sacramento off a back-to-back, it was a big win for us to be able to finish a fourth quarter and win a game. Same with tonight. This is very similar to when we were in Denver earlier in the season. We had a chance to close out the game, didn't move the ball and didn't execute down the stretch. Whereas tonight, we had some mistakes, but I felt we did a much better job closing the game out, protecting home court and getting the win."

Portland was led by McCollum, who followed up a career night in the previous game versus the Kings by scoring 29 points on 12-of-29 shooting, four assists, three rebounds in 36 minutes.

"I like how he’s scoring without necessarily forcing the issue," said Stotts of McCollum. "I think he’s picking his spots well, he’s running the team well. He’s in a position where he hasn’t been before where he has to guard point guards the entire game, so you have to expend a lot of energy as a scorer and as a point guard defender. He’s playing with a lot of composure and confidence not only as a scorer but as a point guard."

Allen Crabbe had the second-highest scoring night of his NBA career with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from three while also grabbing five rebounds and nabbing two steals.

"It’s what I’ve been waiting for ever since I got into the league," said Crabbe, who has started at shooting guard the last four games. "A lot of hard work is paying off. Can’t get complacent. Just got to keep working hard and the opportunity is there and I’m just trying to take full advantage of it."

Aminu went 6-of-14 for 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists while Mason Plumlee finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Leonard and Harkless combined to score 23 points off the bench.

Former Trail Blazer Will Barton led the Nuggets with a game-high 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from three.

"I’ll hand it to Will, he’s playing terrific," said Stotts, who coached Barton his first two seasons in Portland. "He looks very comfortable out there, he’s playing with a lot of confidence, his three looks good. Will’s put in a lot of time. He’s a gym rat and he spends a lot of time in the gym getting better and it’s showing."

Next up, the Trail Blazers wrap up 2015 in Utah with a New Year's Eve contest versus the Jazz. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 pm.

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Blazers End 2015 Moda Center Schedule With Win Versus Nuggets

A rather eventful shootaround today at the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo, CA in anticipation of tonight's game against the Clippers at the Staples Center (7:30 PM tipoff on NBA TV and 620 AM). Let's get to it.

-- CJ McCollum rejoined the team today in Los Angeles after undergoing "non-operative ultrasound procedure" in Charlotte, NC on October 16 to repair the broken fifth metatarsal in his left food. McCollum was shooting while sitting in a chair when media was let into the gym and seemed to be in great spirits despite having to sit out at least the next six weeks while the bone heals.

"I'm doing alright," said McCollum. "Can't complain, life's good."

McCollum couldn't provide a lot of detail about the procedure, if for no other reason than he was anesthetized during the procedure despite it being non-surgical in nature. He did say Dr. Robert Anderson, who performed the procedure and has worked on foot and ankle injuries of many other professional athletes, advised him to forgo surgery.

"I opted not to take the surgical route right now," said McCollum. "The doctor basically encouraged me not to; he didn't think it was necessary."

His left foot will remain in a walking boot as the bone heals and he'll use crutches for at least the next week.

"Just taking it one day at a time really," said McCollum. "That's what you have to do in this business. Got to take it and every day try to get better, try to get better at something, make sure that, like Coach said, I'm staying around the team kind of learning. Take advantage of my time because I have a little bit of extra free time now, so make sure I get the plays down and take care of my body."

-- LaMarcus Aldridge, after missing practice yesterday with a sore left knee, joined the team at shootaround, though he did not participate.

"It was just a little bit of soreness and it kinda got worse after the game and by time we got (to Los Angeles) it was pretty stiff," said Aldridge. "I wondered what it was and I told the training staff and they of course went 'It's so early that you want to make sure you stay on top of anything so it's not nagging.' It's not anything serious but it's something that you don't want to nag the whole season"

While the MRI came back negative, Aldridge will sit out at least Friday's game against the Clippers before being reevaluated when the team gets back to Portland.

"It feels better, just a little muscle strain type activity," said Aldridge of the injury. "I didn't really know what it was. It wasn't something that was overly concerning, but you want to make sure that you're healthy going into the season, so right now, just trying to be cautious. If it's a little tweaked muscle, why not get it right right now? So that's what we're doing."

Aldridge, who has averaged 15.3 points on 61 percent shooting in just 19 minutes per game, has looked to be in midseason form through three preseason games, leading one to question whether it's necessary for him to play in Portland's remaining exhibition contests. But when asked, Aldridge said it was not a foregone conclusion that he would sit out upcoming preseason games against the Kings and Warriors.

"I think as you get older in the league I think you know how to get yourself ready for the season," said Aldridge. "I definitely don't feel like preseason hurts but I don't feel like I need to go play 40 minutes (a game) in preseason either. So far I've had a pretty good balance of playing 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 18 minutes. I think that's been helping me keep my rhythm."

Joel Freeland will start in Aldridge's place at power forward tonight against the Clippers.

-- Finally, there was some good news on the injury front, as Nicolas Batum, who has missed all but Portland's first game of the team's preseason schedule with a concussion, was cleared to return to full activity. Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts said Batum would get the start at small forward and was under no minute restriction. Stotts did say that starting guard Wesley Matthews was questionable with a right thigh contusion.

As for the Clippers, Maalik Wayns (knee), J.J. Redick (quad), Matt Barnes (calf) and Reggie Bullock (knee) are all listed as doubtful according to Eric Patten of Clippers.com. Blake Griffin is listed as day-to-day with a sore right ankle.

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Shootaround Notes: McCollum Back With Team, Aldridge's Knee Is Fine, Batum Returns Tonight

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