The Portland Trail Blazers definitely aren't off to the start that they were hoping for. They are under new head coach Chauncey Billups. Damian Lillard is also playing the worst basketball of his career. Lillard is one of the best players in the league and there's no reason to be worried about him continuing this play. He has mentioned that he is a little banged up so maybe a couple of days off will be beneficial for him. Fortunately for the Blazers, although they haven't started off the way they wanted to, they are still playing average basketball and they're 4-5 on the season.

When Lillard starts to figure it out Portland is going to be a tough team to beat. Possibly this year will be the year that they can finally get over that hump that gets them bounced out of the playoffs.

Portland has gotten some impressive play from CJ McCollum, Norman Powell, and youngster Anfernee Simons. McCollum has really carried the team to some victories while Lillard is struggling. Usually, it's the other way around. It's nice for Dame to finally get some help when he's the one not playing well.

The one pleasant surprise for the Blazers this season is how well CJ McCollum is playing.

McCollum has always been a good player but is really starting to play his best basketball the past two seasons. He got injured last year and missed most of the regular season. Fortunately for him and the Blazers, he's come out this season on fire.

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McCollum's numbers are incredible through the first nine games. He's averaging 23.8 points per game and he's also been very active defensively as he's averaging one block and 1.2 steals per game. The most impressive part about this for McCollum is that he's shooting 45% from the field and 44.2% from three-point range. He's been one of the best players in the NBA to start this season. He is the reason that the Blazers have been able to win games while Damian Lillard is struggling.

Although McCollum has played very well, anything he does in the regular season isn't going to mean much. Blazer fans want to see playoff success. McCollum has had some disappointing playoffs in the past few years. If the Blazers want to make a run deep into the playoffs they're going to need him to play like how he is right now.

The Blazers have to be excited about this. They know that Damian Lillard's struggles aren't going to last much longer. Even if Lillard is injured and takes a couple of games off, McCollum has shown that he can carry the team to a win. This is something in years past that the Blazers could not say.

Portland is only going to be judged off of their playoff success. They need to start winning games come playoff time. The biggest question for them is if they can continue this play when Lillard doesn't play well. He's had to do everything for them in the past playoffs.