NEW ORLEANS — CJ McCollum says he enjoys basketball too much to allow fatigue or a thrown-off routine to stop him from doing what he can to carry the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans through back-to-back games.
He even found a moment during a second-quarter stoppage against Detroit on Thursday night to play rock-paper-scissors with a young fan.
“I actually owe that kid some shoes,” an exhausted but grinning McCollum said. “We got to find the kid. I lost.”
The Pelicans, however, beat the Pistons, 125-116, thanks in large part to McCollum with his 33-point night.
“He did everything we asked him to do and more,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of McCollum, who scored 29 points Wednesday night in a victory at Oklahoma City. “It’s a credit to his mindset, to his character and to the work that he puts in.”
New Orleans was facing Detroit without starting power forward Zion Williamson and starting wing Brandon Ingram, who are also two of their top scorers.
Williamson, who has been injury prone during his first four NBA seasons, was given the night off with the Pelicans playing the second of three games in four nights.
Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham reacts after a no-call from the officials during the first half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. Credit: AP/Matthew Hinton
Ingram missed his third straight game with right knee tendinitis.
The Pelicans also had to take an unusual game-day flight home because of their plane’s mechanical problems Wednesday night, after New Orleans had pulled off the largest road comeback in franchise history by erasing a 22-point deficit.
“The biggest thing is the mental toughness it took to overcome all of the sort of obstacles that we dealt with in the last 24 hours,” Green said. “It’s a credit to the character in that locker room. This is a total preparation-meets-opportunity moment and guys stepped up.”
Matt Ryan, a third-year pro out of…
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