CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
One year ago today, Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum produced one of the great Playoff performances in history. Where does it rank among Game 7 showings of this decade?
The Denver Nuggets were well on their way. On their official website, tickets to the Western Conference Finals were already in pre-sale. Hold on to a 17-point lead with 31 minutes left — ten commercial breaks — and the voucher was punched. But CJ McCollum had other plans. Somewhere between an Allen Iverson-type shiftiness and “Kobeeee” midrange pull-up flicks, the Nuggets defense had no choice but to crumple.