The Trail Blazers dropped their second straight game tonight in Oklahoma City as Kevin Durant’s 46 points propelled the Thunder over the Blazers 105-97. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 29 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to lead the Blazers. With the win, Oklahoma City takes over sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division.

CJ McCollum saw 12 and a half minutes in this contest, scoring five points. He first entered the game with 1:50 left in the first quarter. CJ’s direct impacts in the first quarter would results in his only negative statistics on the night: fouling Kevin Durant en route to completing a three-point play, and a missed three-pointer at the buzzer. CJ would remain in the game to start the second quarter. During the second quarter, McCollum would only let Jeremy Lamb shoot 2 for 6 from the floor but would not take a shot himself before he left the game with 7:15 left in the first half. His stats at the end of the first half: 0 for 1 from the field, 1 personal foul

CJ would re-enter the game with 2:03 left in the third quarter and would not make a direct impact on the game until fourth quarter. CJ would score the Blazers’ first two baskets from the field in the fourth quarter: a 25-foot three-pointer and a 14-foot jumper. While CJ was guarding him in the second half, Jeremy Lamb shot 2 for 3. Lamb scored eight points when McCollum was only the floor while CJ scored five. His personal foul in the first quarter would round out CJ’s stats to: 5 points (2-3 FG, 1-2 3pt), and 1 personal foul. McCollum was also -8 on the night.

The Blazers return home to face the Denver Nuggets on Thursday Night at 10:30. CJ will most likely be guarding Randy Foye or Evan Fournier. Foye averages 10.6 points in about 26 minutes per game while Fournier averages 6.1 points in about 14 minutes per game. Something to watch out for is that both Foye and Fournier average over one turnover per game while Denver’s point guard Ty Lawson averages over three turnovers per game; serious possibility for CJ’s second career steal and maybe even his first multi-steal game.