The Portland Trail Blazers begin a six-game road trip on Thursday with a matchup against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. C.J. McCollum has been out since December 6th with a collapsed right lung, but has recently been ramping up for a return to the lineup. Will McCollum be on the court for the Blazers in Denver?
Is C.J. McCollum playing vs. Nuggets
McCollum got off to a hot start in 2021-22, picking up slack left by Damian Lillard's career-worst, injury-related struggles. He averaged 23.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists over the first two weeks of the regular season, hitting threes at a 44.2% clip on nearly 10 attempts per game. McCollum cooled off considerably from there, though, shooting just above 40% from the field and averaging 18.7 points per game from early November to early December.
McCollum was initially listed as questionable with a rib contusion for Portland's tilt with the LA Clippers on December 6th. He was then downgraded to out on the final injury report, and the Blazers announced a day later that McCollum would be sidelined indefinitely after being diagnosed with a right lung pneumothorax.
Come back stronger, CJ McCollum š pic.twitter.com/LJSKxWMujY
ā Blazers Nation (@BlazersNationCP) December 8, 2021
On December 23rd, Portland announced McCollum's lung was fully healed and that he'd been cleared for non-contact drills. Though the team indicated another update on McCollum's status would come the following week, it has yet to announce any further details regarding his prospective return to the floor.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported on Wednesday that McCollum and his wife, Elise, are soon expecting their first child, and that he'll be back in the lineup after the birth.
The Blazers have gone 5-11 with McCollum sidelined. They enter Thursday's game at 16-24, up to tenth in the Western Conference standings.
Is McCollum playing against the Nuggets? No, but every indication is he'll return soon.
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