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McCollum is in high spirits after beating the Spurs.

Wednesday saw a heated battle between the New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs at Smoothie King Center. It was a nail-biter, but the Pelicans ultimately came out on top at 113-103, thanks in large part to the powerful hustle from shooting guard CJ McCollum. After the game McCollum is feeling Pelican fever all over the city, and he’s all for it.

“This is the start of something special, for sure,” McCollum said. “You see the energy. Feel the energy. My mother is in town; I have some family in town. When we go out to eat, you can feel the city is excited about basketball, as they should [be]. There’s a lot of talent here. We’re playing the game the right way. It’s going to be a lot of winning in our future.”

McCollum was in top form during the game, personally scoring 32 of the Pelicans’ points. “We just got the ball to him, and he made play after play, score after score,” said Pelicans coach Willie Green. “The rest of the guys started to feed off CJ. He’s been in these moments. He’s played on the big stage. It’s no coincidence that he goes out and has the game that he has.”

CJ MCCOLLUM LIGHTING THE SPURS UP ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/JQxecBRX2g

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“I understood the magnitude of this game,” McCollum said. “The Spurs are always going to go on a run at some point. They are well-coached. They execute. They have a lot of great players who can shoot and score. When you get a chance to get up double digits, you have to put the pedal to the metal and try and be aggressive.”