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End-of-Season Awards: Portland Trail Blazers Edition

By Nate Mann

PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 10: The Portland Trail Blazers celebrate a win against the San Antonio Spurs on April 10, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 10: The Portland Trail Blazers celebrate a win against the San Antonio Spurs on April 10, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – MARCH 27: CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard #0 talk during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 27, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – MARCH 27: CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard #0 talk during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 27, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Best Single Game Performance

Both McCollum (Jan. 31 against the Bulls) and Lillard (not long after: Feb. 9 against the Kings) had 50-point scoring games this season. And they both did it while playing less than 30 minutes, making Dame and CJ two of the three players to have ever accomplished that feat. Either of those 50-point games are worthy of “best performance.”

But I think McCollum’s was more entertaining. McCollum was unconscious, shooting 72% from the field (18/25 — and from all over the court), including 6/9 from three. He also made all eight of his free throws. It was a scintillating performance — and a career-high for McCollum.

On the last day of January, CJ went off in the Moda Center. In a 124-108 win on the second half of a back-to-back, CJ dropped 50 points on 18/25 shooting from the floor, with 6/9 shooting from deep. He went a perfect 8/8 from the charity stripe and added 5 rebounds and 2 assists to his impressive stat line. Oh, and he did all this in only 29 minutes.

On Feb. 9, Damian Lillard scored 50 points on 16/26 shooting in 29 minutes against the Sacramento Kings. This kicked off a huge scoring spree for Dame over the next several games, strengthening his case for being in the MVP discussion. He joined Klay Thompson and teammate CJ McCollum as the only players in history to score 50 points in less than 30 minutes.