PORTLAND, Ore. — In the two games Damian Lillard has missed while recovering from a groin injury, the Portland Trail Blazers have turned to CJ McCollum to take over the role of Portland's do-everything star guard.
So far, he's been up to the challenge.
In the past two games, McCollum has averaged 34 points, 11 assists, 7.5 rebounds and is shooting 48% from the field and 47% from the 3-point line.
The Blazers lost by 13 points to the Pelicans and squeaked out a three-point win against the Pistons, but nobody can say McCollum isn't doing his part.
In fact, Portland's starting lineup has been good, even without Lillard. The lineup of McCollum, Gary Trent Jr., Trevor Ariza, Carmelo Anthony and Hassan Whiteside outscored the Pelicans and Pistons by 14.3 points per 100 possessions.
Over the past two games, Carmelo Anthony is averaging 26.0 points while shooting 52% from the field and 47% from 3; Hassan Whiteside is putting up 17.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 5.0 blocks; Gary Trent Jr. is averaging 10.5 points and shooting 50% from 3; and Trevor Ariza is shooting 55% from the field and averaging 7.5 points and 6.0 rebounds.
Where the Blazers most feel Lillard's absence — along with the compounding loss of Portland's three other injured starters in Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins and Rodney Hood — is its depth. The one reserve the Blazers hoped they could count on during this stretch is Anfernee Simons, but he's shooting 20% from the field and 22% from 3.
The bench unit overall is averaging 15.5 points and shooting 33% from the field and 23% from the 3-point line in the past two games.
With 24 games left to play, the Blazers trail the eighth-place Grizzlies by three games and lead the 10th-place Pelicans by half a game.
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Here's how the Blazers fared in the latest batch of NBA power rankings:
ESPN: Blazers rank No. 18 (down 2)
What they wrote: It wasn't technically a must-win game against the Pistons on Sunday, but let's call it a you'd-better-not-lose contest. And the Trail Blazers didn't, squeaking by behind 41 points from CJ McCollum and 32 from Carmelo Anthony. They are four games behind Memphis in the loss column for the eighth playoff spot in the West, and they're running out of time. Damian Lillard is coming back from his groin injury soon, but the Blazers are probably going to need another miraculous run from him to close the gap. The schedule is pretty favorable to close, but as inconsistent as Portland has been, that might not even matter. — Royce Young
Sports Illustrated: Blazers rank No. 15 (no change)
What they wrote: When searching for an answer for Portland’s slide in the Western Conference this season, a simple answer arises on the boards. The Blazers are No. 27 in defensive rebounding and just three spots better in rebounding percentage, consistently losing the boards battle on a given night. This shouldn’t be the case for a team with a mammoth center, but as is usually the case with Hassan Whiteside, his individual statistics far outpace his team impact. Jusuf Nurkic's absence has been crushing after a run to last year's Western Conference finals. — Michael Shapiro
CBS Sports: Blazers rank No. 18 (down 1)
What they wrote: Portland lost to the Pelicans for the fourth time this season to start the week, giving New Orleans the tiebreaker if the teams are dead even for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They bounced back to beat the Pistons behind 41 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds from CJ McCollum, and 32 points from Carmelo Anthony with Damian Lillard still out of the lineup with a groin injury. Portland now sits three games out of the eighth seed, but only 2.5 games up on the No. 13 Suns. — Colin Ward-Henninger
The Athletic: Blazers rank No. 21 (down 2)
In this week's rankings, the author picked the five-man lineup he's most interested in seeing each team deploy the rest of the season.
What they wrote: The lineup: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Trevor Ariza, Carmelo Anthony, Hassan Whiteside. This lineup for the Portland Trail Blazers obviously means Damian Lillard comes back healthy. The sooner, the better with that for the Blazers because their playoff situation is dire without Lillard in the mix. But when he comes back and looks like himself again, this is probably the lineup they have to employ to make that final postseason push. This lineup hasn’t defended at all in 137 minutes together. It has given up 114.7 points per 100 possessions, which would be the third-worst defensive rating in the NBA this season. But it has put up a ridiculous 117.2 points per 100 possessions on offense. This lineup is just potent enough to put together some games, but it needs Dame time to get some playoff time in 2020.
Why the ranking? Without Lillard in the lineup, the loss to New Orleans was totally justified. But they still lost to a team they can't really afford to lose to. Portland is missing Dame for a few games, and that could very well decide its season. The Blazers won’t tank or punt on the season any time soon, but I hope they’re extra careful with Lillard and look long-term with his situation. Getting hurt while clawing for the 8-seed, only to get obliterated by the Lakers in the first-round, doesn’t seem to be worth the risk. — Zach Harper
NBA.com: Blazers rank No. 17 (no change)
What they wrote: The Blazers were without Damian Lillard (who may miss another game or two) as they came out of the All-Star break. But they didn't necessarily need their point to start defending better than they did between Christmas and the All-Star break (when they ranked last defensively). Alas, they began their post-break schedule by allowing the Pelicans to score 73 points on 53 possessions in the first half on Friday and complete a season sweep with a wire-to-wire victory.
The Blazers' win over the Pistons two nights later came with a season-high 32 points from Carmelo Anthony, who made as many 3-pointers on Sunday (five) as he had in four games vs. New Orleans. The victory has the Blazers holding onto ninth place and began a stretch of six straight games vs. the Eastern Conference. But it came after they blew a 19-point lead, getting outscored by 14 points in less than five minutes with CJ McCollum off the floor. An empty-side, pick-and-pop for Anthony (either with Lillard or McCollum as the ball-handler has been a go-to set for the Blazers) provided the dagger on Sunday. — John Schuhmann
Jared Cowley writes about the Trail Blazers and other topics for KGW.com and is the co-host of KGW's 3-on-3 Blazers podcast. Have questions or comments for the 3-on-3 Blazers team? Email them here.
