Portland Trail Blazers: Top 10 player performances of 2017

7. C.J. McCollum, March 28: 39 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 31.0 Game Score

Our first non-Lillardian entry on this list comes the game before our last entry. The division rival Denver Nuggets came to Portland, also jockeying for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They successfully neutralized Lillard’s scoring attack, holding him to 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting.

However, the Nuggets just couldn’t keep up with the rest of Lillard’s teammates. The team stepped up to the challenge, prevailing 122-113 over Denver. Portland was led by C.J. McCollum’s 39 points.

McCollum managed to have his second-best game of the season, going 15-for-24 from the field. He’s known for his 3-point shooting, finishing 2016-17 as the seventh-best marksman in the NBA. However, he only took five of them in this game, knocking down three.

Instead, McCollum managed to do most of his damage from mid-range. His shot from this range is an underrated part of his game. McCollum made 47.7 percent of his 482 2-point attempts from outside of the paint.

McCollum led all scorers in this game and helped Portland take the playoff tiebreaker over Denver, which played a big role in helping the Blazers clinch. However, he wasn’t the only player to have a big game that night.