CJ McCollum’s big night ruined by Pelicans loss to Spurs

It didn’t take long for CJ McCollum to have a big night for the New Orleans Pelicans, unfortunately, it came in a loss to the Spurs.

In just his second game with the team, McCollum scored 36 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists.

He was still out of rhythm with his new team at times, and did commit six turnovers, but overall the Pelicans have to be happy with how their big trade deadline acquisition has played so far.

For the second game in a row, the Pelicans were undone by a bad third quarter, something coach Willie Green is going to need to address, as the team has repeatedly come out flat in the second half.

There were some things to like about this game, but ultimately the Pelicans lost and some potential problems have arisen.

CJ McCollum’s big night for the Pelicans

McCollum struggled shooting the ball in his debut for the Pelicans, so it was nice to see him get on track and hit 62.5 percent of his shots on the night, including 42.8 percent of his 3-pointers.

This is exactly why the Pelicans traded for McCollum; he gives them a second (and hopefully third once Zion Williamson returns) scoring option who can have a big night and carry the team offensively.

It’s been interesting to see Brandon Ingram defer to McCollum initially but both of them are going to get plenty of shots in the offense and I think we’ll start to see them play off each other more effectively once they get more time together.

Ingram didn’t have his best night shooting and McCollum turned it over too many times, but they weren’t the reason the Pelicans lost the game.