Trail Blazers' CJ McCollum: Hurts ribs Saturday

McCollum injured his ribs in Saturday's 145-117 loss to the Celtics, but initial X-rays returned negative, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports.

Fortunately, McCollum appears to have avoided any fractures or cracks to his ribcage, but he's dealing with bruising and will be re-evaluated Sunday. At this stage, the Trail Blazers don't seem overly concerned about McCollum's injury, but his status will need to be monitored as Portland prepares for a three-game week. The Trail Blazers will already be without Damian Lillard (abdomen) for the upcoming week, and Anfernee Simons' (ankle) availability is in question as well. If all of Lillard, Simons and McCollum miss any time, Dennis Smith would have a clear path to a high-usage role out of the Portland backcourt after he poured in 21 points to go with six assists, four rebounds and three steals across 37 minutes in his first start of the season Saturday.