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The Brooklyn Nets fans at the Barclays Center did all they can to get the New Orleans Pelicans off their game on opening night. This included some pretty savage chants aimed at Pelicans star CJ McCollum, who himself admits to being affected by the jeers.
At one point in the game, Brooklyn supporters started with some “You need Dame” chants aimed at McCollum. This was in reference to McCollum's former Portland Blazers teammate Damian Lillard, who Nets fans seem to believe was the main (lone?) reason behind McCollum's success during his time in Portland.
For his part, the Pelicans shooting guard revealed after the game that he was actually distracted by the chants. However, it may not be in the way Nets fans were hoping for (h/t NBA reporter Andrew Lopez of ESPN)
CJ McCollum said he heard the “You need Dame” chants.
Said it caused him to miss a FT because he was laughing because he thought it was funny.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 20, 2022
As he said, McCollum did end up missing a free throw because of the chants. However, it seems that it only fueled his performance on the evening, with CJ dropping 21 points on the Nets, along with four rebounds, six assists, three steals, and three triples in 31 minutes of action.
More importantly, McCollum helped the Pelicans rout the Nets, 130-108. Not even Kevin Durant's 32-point explosion was enough to help his team, as McCollum and Co. cruised to victory on Brooklyn's own home floor. This was also thanks in large part to the amazing Zion Williamson (25 points, nine rebounds) and Brandon Ingram (28 points, seven rebounds), as New Orleans came out with a huge statement victory in their first game of the campaign.
Perhaps Nets fans might want to think twice about using this tactic on McCollum the next time he's in town.
