The Portland Trail Blazers entered the NBA restart as the No. 9 seed, with a host of Western Conference teams nipping at their heels.

But Portland managed to fight its way into the playoffs, thanks mostly due to a Herculean “bubble” performance by Damian Lillard.

Interestingly enough, Lillard might owe some of his success to teammate CJ McCollum's role as a wine connoisseur. McCollum told Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report and GQ Magazine his “McCollum Heritage 91” Pinot Noir was immensely popular in the bubble, especially with Blazers running mate Damian Lillard:

But no one was a bigger fan than Damian Lillard. McCollum's backcourt running mate said Heritage 91 was a magic elixir, the good-luck charm behind his historic bubble hot streak. Every time Lillard drank some, he'd go out and drop 50 on the other team, so he made it a point to incorporate McCollum Heritage 91 into his nightly routine. According to CJ, Dame was like, “ ‘Don't bring me nothing besides that Heritage—I only want to drink the Heritage!’ So I was bringing him it, and we was drinking it for, like, a streak.”

Lillard had carried the Trail Blazers on his back throughout the regular season. Portland lost frontcourt stalwarts Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins early in the year, forcing Lillard and McCollum to carry even more of the offensive load.

But “Dame” went nuts in Orlando. He ended the seeding games by scoring 51, 61 and 42 points in Portland's last three contests, all wins.

Lillard's heroics earned the Trail Blazers a spot in the play-in for the eighth seed, where they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies.

However, McCollum would like to take the credit for some of Lillard's success, as well.