The older brother of C.J. McCollum is the best Blazers media drummer

After the Blazers returned 17-16 to knock out the Nuggets, Portland hero CJ McCollum told reporters that his 37 points, 9 rebounds and his game save were fueled in part by a text from his Errick brother: "He told me not to install, he told me to go to the mid-range, float, edge as much as possible."

That's a good tip – although banal – in general, and even more so yesterday, when Portland and Denver shot a combined 6-on-45 behind the arc, making the game virtually unassailable until the fourth quarter. Errick, who is four years older than C.J. and currently plays in the United League of Russia playoffs with Unics Kazan, has obviously received a little more motivation.

Throughout these NBA playoffs, former McCollum was the best media drummer of the Blazers, tweeting Dozens of times per game and responding to a mix of fans and detractors in between. He proposes an analysis:

He drinks with the officials:

Above all, however, he offers a seemingly endless stream of praise to his younger brother.

Kazan is 10 hours ahead of Portland, which means the Sunday afternoon game started at 10:30 pm. for Errick, who is probably supposed to sleep normal hours while his second seed, Unics Kazan, is preparing for a playoff game against third seed Khimki Moscow next week. It's good anyway. Last year, the humiliating sweep of the first round of the Pelicans ended CJ's season so early that he had time to fly to Turkey to see Errick play. McCollum and Damian Lillard if they ever want to pass the first round. This year, C. J. told reporters that he could not survive.

Errick will not be able to go to the Western Conference finals either, but he has already lobbied his brother to face the Warriors. Like most Blazer fans, he's not overly optimistic about the team's chances.

The first part starts at 04:00 Wednesday, Kazan time.