Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum absolutely went off on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. After the game, the 27-year-old admitted that he felt disrespected — and extra motivated — when the Bucks decided to put rookie Donte DiVicenzo on him on defense.
“Very disrespectful,” McCollum said, via Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports. “It’s very disrespectful. They should have put Pat (Connaughton) in.”
It was easily McCollum's best performance of the young season, as the 6-foot-3 guard put up a season-high 40 points on 17-of-26 shooting. He also drained five 3-pointers and added five rebounds, six assists, and four steals to round out an excellent outing.
For some reason, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer thought it was a good idea to have DiVicenzo guard McCollum. That move obviously failed miserably, as McCollum lead the Blazers to a 118-103 victory, handing the Bucks their second loss of the season. With the win, Portland are now 8-3 to start the new campaign.
McCollum has been off to a good start for the Blazers this term. In 11 appearances for the team, the former Lehigh University standout is averaging 20.8 points on 46.0 percent shooting, 2.3 3-pointers, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 0.8 steals in 32.2 minutes per contest.
McCollum is currently on the second year of his four-year, $106.4 million deal. The former Most Improved Player of the Year has established himself as the Blazers' number two option behind cornerstone star Damian Lillard. Combined, these two form one of the deadliest backcourts in the game today.
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