CJ McCollum

Causes for celebration ran aplenty inside Delta Center, particularly after a series of missed free throws by the New Orleans Pelicans secured free chicken for 18,175 in attendance. Any cheering, though, would ultimately be limited to just 10 seconds, given the fact that CJ McCollum had something special of his own cooking through a feathery 3-point touch. A nightmare, once upon a time, for misfortuned teams in the Northwest Division, McCollum reminded Salt Lake City of his blink-of-an-eye scoring ability, first through a wide-open corner trifecta, prompting a late-game tie. Spurring what became a personal 9-0 run — and ultimately a 15-0 takeoff as a team — New Orleans’ dynamite scorer swished through a pair of additional 3-pointers, the first on a pick-and-roll pull-up, and the second on a top-of-the-key rainbow over Keyonte George. Long stamped in his reputation as a crunchtime bucket-getter, McCollum sparked a high-scoring win on March 2, 2025, rattling off 25 points (on 10-of-18), alongside three rebounds, eight assists, one block, and five triples.