C.J. McCollum proved it doesn’t always have to be Lillard Time

The general consensus among basketball fans when the Trail Blazers forced a Game 7 against the Nuggets was that in order to emerge victorious and punch their ticket to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 19 years, Damian Lillard had to be more than spectacular.

He had to go for 50, hit a side-step buzzer beater from 40 feet out, defy physics contorting his body on relentless rack attacks and light the Nuggets up like never before. Lillard would have to carry the entire city of Portland on his back if his team was going to get a win against this Denver team.

But after the Trail Blazers squeezed out a 100-96 victory, coming back from 17-point second-quarter deficit despite a 3-of-17 shooting performance from their All-Star point guard, it has become clear that it doesn’t always have to be Lillard Time.

C.J. McCollum deserves his own prime time slot, too.

Big Play C.J. dazzled, one trap-splitting crossover after another, sandwiched between step-back jump shots and flat out ridiculous finishes at the rim. His best play of the game didn’t even come on the offensive end: It was a LeBron James-like chase-down block on Jamal Murray, a play that kept the momentum in Portland’s favor in a hostile Denver environment.

In all, McCollum finished with 37 points on 59-percent shooting from the field. Only one of his 17 made field goals were threes. McCollum was a tactician all game, the meticulous mid-range scorer Portland leaned on to take down a Denver team that gave them a run for their money.

Lillard finished with just 13 points. After averaging 27 points through the first six games of the series, he just didn’t have it in him for Game 7. This was a team he carried a good portion of the regular season, and absolutely put on his shoulders in Portland’s first-round series against Oklahoma City.

But on this day, in what could be the biggest Trail Blazers game of this era to date, McCollum picked up the slack. For Portland, this is a development. The Trail Blazers just puled off an incredible win with one of Lillard’s worst performance in his playoff career. With help from Zach Collins, Evan Turner and Mo Harkless, Portland took down the West’s second-best team on their own home floor.

Now, they’ll have all the momentum in the world carrying over to the Western Conference Finals against Golden State, and the Warriors look as human as ever with Kevin Durant out for an extended period of time with a right calf strain. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry look as deadly as ever, but the defending champs don’t have the depth they once boasted in the pre-Durant era.

The Trail Blazers, in this series, have proven worthy contenders for the Warriors’ crown. It doesn’t only have to be Lillard Time. C.J. McCollum can carry his load, too