CJ McCollum Articles - Page 4

Trey Murphy III and CJ McCollum combined for 60 points before sharing the postgame podium following a 110-100 New Orleans Pelicans road win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The visitors had to overcome some first-half hiccups but the Pelicans eventually pulled away thanks to big nights from the sharpshooting duo. Murphy III got extra credit […]

The New Orleans Pelicans know they are playing with fire despite having control over their NBA Playoffs fate. They have dropped double-digit leads in losses and have yet to mount a fourth-quarter comeback. Sure, not all losses are equal in the moment but they all count the same in the end-of-season standings. Asserting otherwise is […]

The New Orleans Pelicans got an important update on the injury status of second-leading scorer Brandon Ingram on Saturday, less than 24 hours prior to their matchup with Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. Ingram has not played since Thursday, March 21 in a road game against the Orlando Magic and is an important piece […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (45-29) are in a precarious position following a 104-92 home loss to the Boston Celtics. They are now barely hanging on to fifth place in the Western Conference, just half a game up on the Dallas Mavericks and two games ahead of the Phoenix Suns. Externally, the Mavericks have one of […]

One shot, one play, can elicit so many emotions and alter a season’s momentum, but the respective locker rooms usually come to a consensus. While one group celebrates, another grovels and wonders what could have been if only one shot, one play, went differently. The New Orleans Pelicans and Boston Celtics game is just the […]

The term ‘All-Star whistle’ is around for a reason. NBA referees, for one reason or another, tend to give All-NBA talents more favorable calls than players still running out the years on their rookie contracts. Zion Williamson has been learning this the hard way and has the bruises to prove it. The New Orleans Pelicans […]

The New Orleans Pelicans could waste no time with any pats on the back following a 3-1 road trip. Sure, Willie Green’s group was coming back to the Smoothie King Center for a six-game homestand. The teams coming to town all have postseason aspirations, or in the San Antonio Spurs’ case, Victor Wembanyama. The Pelicans […]

The NBA Playoffs have already started according to one New Orleans Pelicans fan favorite. While the NBA does not recognize Jose Alvarado’s statement, the league’s teams are starting to buckle down for the last 10-game sprint to the regular-season finish line. Some have accepted their NBA Draft Lottery fate, while others are pressing to avoid […]

The New Orleans Pelicans wasted no time in taking care of the Detroit Pistons to close out a 3-1 road trip. The team lost Brandon Ingram (knee) to a freak fall and only got four points out of Zion Williamson, but still they head back to the Smoothie King Center well clear of the NBA […]

Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and the New Orleans Pelicans are all in uncharted territory both individually and collectively. Williamson and Ingram are approaching their career highs in games played in a season. The Pelicans are approaching a rare 50-win campaign and will enter the NBA Playoffs with a level of expectation not known since the […]

The national media is starting to warm up to the New Orleans Pelicans as serious contenders for at least a Western Conference finals spot. It is hard to ignore an NBA team going 17-6 over two months, especially when that squad is 11-3 over the past 14 road games. The success comes down to focus […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (43-27) had last beaten the Miami Heat on the road in 2017. The sportsbooks had plenty of reasons to heavily favor Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on the last Friday before Good Friday. First, Willie Green’s rotations would have to operate without Brandon Ingram (knee contusion) and Dyson Daniels (knee). Any […]

The Miami Heat start the current four-game home stand inside the Kaseya Center with a frustrating loss against the New Orleans Pelicans, 111-88. A loss like this hurts the Heat as with now 13 games left in the regular season, time is running out to solidify position for the postseason as the Eastern Conference is tightly […]

The New Orleans Pelicans will be a team to watch ahead of the NBA playoffs as the contenders start to separate from the pretenders. The Boston Celtics are running away from the Eastern Conference’s middle class, with only the Milwaukee Bucks within 10 games. Meanwhile, The Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves have […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are a hard team to figure out on a night-to-night basis but the underlying strategy is pretty straightforward. This team’s potential is capped by the capacity of Zion Williamson to perform at an All-NBA level consistently. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum can only do so much, as evidenced by their previous […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are a tight-knit organization from the top down. The front office is open about philosophy but tight-lipped regarding specific negotiations, plans, and players on the market. The locker room has dealt with years of adversity and play things close to the vest, giving most of the national media little to work […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (37-25) offense has operated in fits and starts through 62 games, yet the team still sits alone in fifth place out West. They have the fourth-best net rating on the back of a near-elite defense led by Herb Jones. Third-year head coach Willie Green’s main job all season has been to […]

Being nice to co-workers is one thing. Being nice to the competition is quite another, especially in New Orleans. Dennis Allen found that out the hard way with the New Orleans Saints. Herb Jones hears the respectful words praising past actions, but he is more focused on the fight waiting for the New Orleans Pelicans […]

The New Orleans Pelicans got a 19-point first quarter from Brandon Ingram in a scorching-hot first quarter against the Indiana Pacers. Ingram was actually the only Pelicans player to miss a shot in the opening 12 minutes. New Orleans was 20-of22 in the opening frame, recording a 90.9% success rate which is the highest field […]

The New Orleans Pelicans were dealing with some difficult circumstances going into a nationally broadcast game versus Tyrese Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers. The Pelicans were on the second night of a back-to-back set and dealing with a travel-related hangover thanks to mechanical issues with their aircraft after beating the New York Knicks.  Zion Williamson and company […]

The New Orleans Pelicans will be shorthanded as well as jet-lagged when visiting the Indiana Pacers. The team did not get to their Indianapolis hotel until sunrise on Wednesday morning, just 12 hours before tipping off the second game of a back-to-back road set. Third-year head coach Willie Green will be missing at least two […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have dropped two straight games since initially picking up a 22-point win over the Houston Rockets coming out of the All-Star break. In a very crowded Western Conference, there is very little room for error, especially with the Pelicans being just a half-game ahead of the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks […]

The New Orleans heard a wide variety of opinions throughout the NBA All-Star break. Those narratives were all paired with the same hedged bet soundbite: at least the team was relatively healthy. Well, that good luck fell by the wayside just two games into the regular season’s stretch run. Willie Green could be missing more […]

It was a brutal Friday for the New Orleans Pelicans. Not only did the Pelicans lose CJ McCollum during the game due to an ankle injury, but they will likely have several key players suspended in the coming days due to their role in the altercation with the Miami Heat. The Pelicans could be dealing […]

Willie Green rallied the New Orleans Pelicans to a comfortable win over the Houston Rockets in the first game back from the league’s midseason hiatus. Unfortunately, the team played with a post-NBA All-Star break hangover against the Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back, falling 106-95. The Pelicans do not play well without […]

The New Orleans Pelicans suffered a major blow on Friday during their game against the Miami Heat when CJ McCollum sustained an ankle injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the game as per the team. He was originally listed as questionable to return, but ultimately ruled out. The Pelicans had been playing […]

The New Orleans Pelicans missed most of Mardi Gras due to a road-game-heavy schedule going into the NBA All-Star break. They played eight of the last ten games away from the Smoothie King Center and then everyone but Jordan Hawkins went on a week-long February break somewhere besides Indiana. The team had practice in the […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are sitting at 33-22 coming out of the NBA All-Star break, tied with the Phoenix Suns for fifth place. Willie Green has this group on pace for one of the best regular season finishes in franchise history, but that was not the goal back in September. They are 27 games away […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are not being shy about their intentions down the stretch. General Manager Trajan Langdon said during Media Day that the playoffs were the goal but this locker room cared how they earn a postseason spot. After two years of suffering through the NBA Play-In Tournament, this team is now aiming for […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (33-22) went into the NBA All-Star break on a 7-1 run, with five of those victories coming on the road. The Pelicans return to action with three games in four days, thankfully all in the Smoothie King Center. Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram can use that home cooking to dial into […]

The New Orleans Pelicans flew under the radar during the NBA All-Star break. Rookie Jordan Hawkins was the franchise’s lone representative, and that came in the undercard Rising Stars game not the main attraction. Well, on the court that is. CJ McCollum was a guest on ESPN’s NBA Today show and had to make a […]

The NBA All-Star reserves were just announced for the 2024 crop of All-Stars. Once again, Jamal Murray and CJ McCollum were left off of the All-Star teams. The NBA is deep with talent right now, and it is harder than ever before to make the All-Star Game. Both of those players have had such magnificent […]

Not seeing Damian Lillard suit up in a Portland Trail Blazers jersey still seems weird to some fans of the league. He has been with the squad since he was a rookie and formed a lethal duo there alongside CJ McCollum. Now, he has a new partner in Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Milwaukee Bucks system. […]

The New Orleans Pelicans started this season with a revamped coaching staff and a clear message to the locker room: look to take more 3-pointers. Now in his third year in charge, Willie Green has to match that strategy with a new directive coaching-wise: play more shooters or risk getting run out of the gym, […]

What a difference two games can make in changing the water cooler talk concerning the New Orleans Pelicans. Third-year head coach Willie Green was celebrating a franchise record 153 points in a win over the surprisingly competitive Utah Jazz to start the week. Unfortunately, the Pelicans are now traveling to face the Boston Celtics having […]

It’s time to have a discussion about the state of scoring in the NBA, and let me tell you, I’m very happy that someone as astute and thoughtful as CJ McCollum was one of the first to weigh in during a week when we’ve seen four 60-point performances, including two of the ten 70-point performances […]

Willie Green’s New Orleans Pelicans of the past two years were noticeably hamstrung by their lack of three-point shooting. The front office kept the core of the team together this summer but brought in James Borrego to overhaul the offensive approach. The roster remained mostly intact, but everyone knew they’d be tested on two big […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have a reputation for playing paint-pounding bully ball, but the team is starting to lean more heavily into their three-point barrage battle tactics. It’s working wonders in opening up what was a ‘congested’ offense a few weeks ago. The Pelicans even set a franchise record in Wednesday’s 132-112 win over the […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are going into a three-games in four-nights situation against two tough NBA Western Conference contenders. First up for CJ McCollum and company is a visit to the reigning champion Denver Nuggets to battle that altitude. The Dallas Mavericks await a visit from the Pelicans less than 24 hours later. New Orleans […]