Portland Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from Game 3 win vs. Nuggets

2. Game 3 was CJ Time

The advantage of having two potent scorers on a roster is that went one of them is having an off-night, the other steps up to pick up the slack. That was the case in Game 3, where CJ McCollum’s consistent play helped keep the team afloat until Hood and Curry came in to secure the game.

McCollum finished with a game-high 41 points and played in 60 of the game’s 68 minutes. That makes him the first Blazer in playoff history to log an hour of playing time in a single game. His production was evenly distributed between 23 points in regulation and 18 in the overtime periods.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1124563423981907968?s=20

At times, it felt like McCollum was the only player on either team that still had fresh legs in the latter stages. Who knows where he found the energy, but it helped him play a key role in keeping the Blazers competitive, even as the game extended further into the night.