Oklahoma City Thunder star Paul George is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. However, Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum got him pretty good in Game 2 of their Western Conference first round match-up.
McCollum confused George with a nasty hesitation crossover move to bank in the one-handed floater in the first quarter. Watch the highlight below, per Dime on Twitter.
CJ did that to Paul George š±
š¹: @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/Z5CEBgfXvT
ā Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 17, 2019
Tonight was just McCollum's fourth game back after a knee strain sidelined him for nearly three weeks. The 27-year-old is just getting his legs back into game form, and last night was a sign that he could be ready to take off once again. The undersized two-guard struggled with his shot in Game 1 shooting just 9-of-24 from the field, but still finished with 24 points. Nonetheless, this was good enough to help Portland snap their 10-game losing streak in the playoffs dating back to 2016.
Four games proved to be enough for the LeHigh standout to regain his form. McCollum scored a game-high 33 points on a more efficient 12-of-22 shooting from the field. He also converted on all of his shots from the stripe and knocked down three 3-pointers to lead the Blazers to a convincing 114-94 Game 2 victory over the Thunder. All-Star point guard Damian Lillard also chipped in 29 points for the no. 3 seed Blazers, which did its job to protect home court.
The Blazers look to carry this momentum as the series now shifts to Oklahoma City. Portland has a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead when they visit Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday for Game 3.
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