DENVER -- CJ McCollum stood on the Denver Nuggets logo at midcourt and stared directly at a deflated Pepsi Center crowd trying to process how Game 7 had slipped out of their team's hands.
In a back-and-forth Game 7 that mirrored this highly competitive second-round series, McCollum buried mid-range jumpers from near the left side of the free-throw line all game long, chased down Jamal Murray for a scintillating LeBron James-like series-saving block and delivered the dagger that finally helped the Blazers break through a 19-year wall. For the first time since 2000, the Trail Blazers are heading to the Western Conference Finals and they did so by completing the largest comeback in a Game 7 over the last 20 years.