Portland Trail Blazers: Grading each starter’s Playoffs performance

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 29: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers hug before the start of Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 29, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. 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 Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 29: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers hug before the start of Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 29, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. 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 Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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Portland Trail Blazers
CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

CJ McCollum

Per Game Stats: 23.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists per game on 44.4 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from 3, and 68.2 percent from the free throw line

Advanced Metrics: 53.4 true shooting percentage, -18.0 on-off swing, 26.3 usage percentage

McCollum is similar to Lillard, in the sense that all would have been personally forgiven, even if he had slightly struggled in this series. He did more than enough to push the Portland Trail Blazers into the Play-In Tournament, even with a fractured vertebrae.

Still, he was predictably remarkable when it mattered most. The Trail Blazers seemed to fare as well as he played, or lack thereof. When he shot the ball to his normal standards, Portland either won the game, or had themselves in position to win it (see Games 3 and 5), but fell short for a few reasons.

There was the occasional loose ball that he missed, or struggle in closing out on the red-hot Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but for the most part, there wasn’t a ton to criticize about McCollum’s defense or overall effort. The statistics painted a similar picture; he stuck to Danny Green for most of the series, and held him to about what you would expect from the streaky shooter.

From watching McCollum, his scoring numbers rarely shift towards inconsistency. He’s about as sure a 20-point scorer as our league has. But his Game Five is one that won’t get the respect it commands since it came in a losing effort.

The Lakers gave him the Lillard treatment, and that cooled him a bit in the second half, while also forcing him into some unusually ambitious turnovers. But his reputation as a reliable win-or-go-home performer — he averages 25.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on 53-49-79 percent lines — got an added boost. Portland’s offense without Lillard seemed to have a few more wrinkles, which I suspect was a part of Stotts’ gameplan. And McCollum seemed to benefit from it.

The one main takeaway from the last few games came in how aggressive McCollum was at attacking the basket. His free throw rate skyrocketed from just 13.6 percent in the regular season to 22.2 percent in the Playoffs, a tried and true trend in his playing career.

It’s easy as an outsider to wonder why that number isn’t higher in the regular season. It could be what puts him over the top in All-Star voting, and helps Portland get consistently higher seeding. The percentages might even go up with more attempts, considering he’s a volume scorer. But that’s a straw-grasp for a special player. As long as it’s there in big games, there doesn’t seem to be a major reason to complain.

Grade: B+