The last ALUMNI WATCH came two weeks ago, time to catch up.

The Blazers have played seven games in that span, going 3-4 in those games. The team now sits 7.5 games behind the Thunder in the Northwest Division standings with a 45-27 record. Portland is half-a-game ahead of Golden State for the fifth-seed in the West and are four games back of Houston for the fourth-seed. The Blazers have ten games left; four on the road and six at home.

CJ McCollum has played in five of those seven games. His stats:

Friday, March 14th: 111-103 Win @ Pelicans: 11:34 Min, 2 Pts (1-2 FG, 0-1 3Pt), 2 Reb, 2 Stl
Saturday, March 15th: 113-112 Loss vs. Warriors: Did Not Play
Tuesday, March 18th: 120-115 Win vs. Bucks: 7:09 Min, 0 Pts (0-2 FG, 0-2 3Pt), 1 Stl, 1 TO
Thursday, March 20th: 116-103 Win vs. Wizards: 7:31 Min, 6 Pts (2-4 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 1-2 FT), 1 Ast, 1 TO
Saturday, March 22nd: 124-94 Loss @ Bobcats: 17:53 Min, 12 Pts (3-9 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 4-6 FT), 3 Reb, 1 TO, 1 PF
Monday, March 24th: 93-91 Loss @ Heat: Did Not Play
Tuesday, March 25th: 95-85 Loss @ Magic: 1:07 Min, 0 Pts (No Shots Attempted)

In last Saturday’s game, CJ was put into the sixth-man role even though Mo Williams was active. Williams had been inactive due to family reasons the previous times CJ was put in the role. It’s great to see that Terry Stotts can put CJ in this role even though it’s clear he wants to keep the bench shorter in close games.

The Blazers continue their road trip tomorrow in Atlanta against the Hawks. These two teams faced off at the start of the month as the Blazers routed the Hawks 102-78. The Blazers are hoping for LaMarcus Aldridge to return tomorrow who will “probably come back against the Hawks Thursday” according to Blazers Beat Writer Chris Haynes. CJ played 21 minutes in that contest, scoring nine points with three rebounds and three assists. McCollum will most likely be guarding either Lou Williams or Shelvin Mack who average a combined 17.4 points per game. This game tips-off at 7:30 Thursday night in Atlanta.