The Portland Trail Blazers moved to 2-1 during a crucial six-game road trip on Monday, beating the bottom-dwelling Orlando Magic 98-88 in a convincing win not nearly as close as the final score suggests.
C.J. McCollum played for the first time since December 4th, back on the floor after recovering from a collapsed right lung and celebrating the birth of his child last week. He scored 16 on 7-of-13 on shooting overall and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, looking plenty comfortable with the ball in his hands while shaking off some inevitable rust on both ends of the floor.
“I don't think he was winded, to be honest with you. Maybe he'll tell you something different,” Chauncey Billups said of McCollum, who played on a minutes restriction. “He's such a smooth player you'll never really know when he's tired.”
McCollum's presence shifted Anfernee Simons into more of a facilitating role, and it showed in the eye test and box score. He was clearly picking his spots to be aggressive, content to run the show as the Blazers showcased McCollum with their starting unit. Simons turned on self-creation mode when McCollum went to the bench, but never found the range on his jumper en route to 13 points and seven assists on 4-of-11 from the field, including 0-of-5 from three.
“Ant couldn't get the three-ball to go, but his floor game was beautiful,” Billups said. “He played great everywhere else.”
made us happy. made us smile. pic.twitter.com/NOFXiN26JU
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 18, 2022
Simons fingerprints were all over Jusuf Nurkic's massive night in particular. The Bosnian Beast lived up to his nickname against the Magic, bullying every defender thrown at him with his back to the basket, diving to the rim and crashing the glass. Nurkic finished with 21 points, 22 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, owning the paint on offense and defense. He wasn't especially efficient, but Portland can live with that when Nurkic scores often enough to draw extra defensive attention with his back to the basket or catching on the move.
He's averaging 15.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists since returning from health-and-safety protocols on January 3rd, solid numbers a step above his season-long marks.
“The obvious thing is we're going to him more,” Billups said of Nurkic's recent uptick in production. “Our best two players were out. Dame and CJ were out, so you gotta go to a guy that you feel like can get double-teamed. You can see his confidence just continue to surge.”
It wasn't just the Blazers' de facto Big Three that led them to their first consecutive road wins of the season, though.
Billups called Nassir Little's typically energetic, forceful performance “incredible.” Robert Covington was everywhere as a help defender, wreaking havoc on the backline and digging down at the nail to swipe two steals and block three shots. Ben McLemore scored 11 of his 14 points in Portland's dominant third quarter, shooting 4-of-11 overall with all but one of those attempts coming from three.
“I thought we played well,” Billups said. “There were a few things that we really focused on trying to take away. We just had so many guys that played well.”
Some magical highlights for your viewing pleasure 🎥 pic.twitter.com/bpzYWrI5MC
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 18, 2022
The win is Portland's third in four games, and fourth over its last six outings with Simons in the lineup. Billups' team is now 18-25, three-and-a-half games up on the Sacramento Kings for tenth in the Western Conference—and final spot in the play-in tournament.
The Blazers are only halfway through their road trip. It only gets tougher from here. But with McCollum back and Norman Powell returning as soon as Wednesday's game at the Miami Heat, Portland finally some sustained momentum.
“We've struggled so bad on the road that anytime we can get book some wins and get some confidence, it's a big deal for us,” Billups said. “I'm loving, loving how we're playing right now.”
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