Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts kept a cool head despite an incandescent performance by his starting shooting guard C.J. McCollum. The sharpshooting wing lit up the Chicago Bulls by 50 points in the opening three quarters of the game, but wouldn't see the court again, as Stotts had made his decision to sit him the rest of the game with the score already out of hand.
McCollum put up a blazing 28 points in the first period, torching the opposition as the Blazers picked up a 43-19 advantage in the first frame. Stotts was impressed with the array of ways in which he scored during the opening quarter.
“What he did in the first quarter was amazing,” Stotts said, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian.
McCollum continued his assault in the second, finishing the half with 32 points and picking up his 50th point on a made free throw to cap the third quarter.
With nine minutes to play and the crowd on its feet, fans began chants of “We want C.J.,” but he wouldn't come back to action, as the Blazers sported a sizable lead on the Bulls.
“50 is a good number,” Stotts said. “…The last thing we need is something to happen to him in a 25-point game.”
While some coaches like former Phoenix Suns boss Earl Watson believe in letting a star player have full rein on nights like this, as he did during Devin Booker's historic 70-point night against the Boston Celtics last season, some like Stotts believe in not angering the basketball gods and let good moments be what they are.
McCollum became the sixth player to reach the 50-point milestone this season, doing so with a 72 percent efficiency from the floor, 67 percent from deep, and an uncanny 8-of-8 from the stripe to cap off his career-high night.
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