The Portland Trail Blazers opened the NBA Playoffs with a thud, losing at home against the New Orleans Pelicans. A poor first-half offensive performance — only 36 points at halftime — put the Blazers in a hole they spent all second half cracking away at. The clearest sign of troubles? Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Portland’s back-court tandem struggled in the first half, combining to go 1-for-15, with McCollum 0-for-6 with zero points.
After the loss, McCollum said, “If I played better in the first quarter, I think we’d win that game.