Damian Lillard is finally playing at his typical All-NBA level. Now that C.J. McCollum is closer to taking the floor again, perhaps it's only a matter of time until the Portland Trail Blazers turn around their season.

During media availability at Thursday's practice, Chauncey Billups told reporters that though there's still no concrete timetable for McCollum's return, the veteran guard is progressing in his recovery from a collapsed right lung.

The Blazers announced on December 7th that a CT scan revealed McCollum had a pneumothorax, listing his absence as indefinite. Just over a week later, the team said McCollum was “making progress” in his recovery with light conditioning work and would be re-evaluated before Christmas.

McCollum got off to a blazing start in 2021-22, struggling to maintain that stellar offensive efficiency in the leadup to his injury. He's averaging 20.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this season on a disappointing 50.9 effective field goal percentage, below league-average. Third-year wing Nassir Little has taken McCollum's place in the starting lineup, with Norman Powell sliding up to shooting guard.

Portland has gone 2-6 with McCollum sidelined, tumbling further down the Western Conference standings. Three of those games—all losses, unsurprisingly— came with the Blazers missing Lillard, too, who was out for the first two weeks of December while managing nagging abdominal tendinopathy.

Portland sits at 13-19 this season, tenth in the Western Conference. The Blazers' scheduled game at Moda Center on Thursday night has been postponed due to the COVID-ravaged Brooklyn Nets not being able to field eight players, the minimum amount needed to play according to league rules.

[h/t Sean Highkin, Bleacher Report]