METAIRIE, La. — A day after scoring 13 points in a losing effort against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, New Orleans Pelicans announced that starting guard C.J. McCollum has been diagnosed with a small pneumothorax in his right lung after medical imaging was conducted Sunday morning.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a pneumothorax is a collapsed lung, which occurs when "air leaks into the space between your lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of your lung and makes it collapse. A pneumothorax can be a complete lung collapse or a collapse of only a portion of the lung."
A collapsed lung can be caused by a blunt or penetrating chest injury.
Treatment for a collapsed lung typically involves the removal of excess air with the use of a needle or chest tube. However, a small pneumothorax may heal on its own.
According to the team, additional examination will be performed in the next 48 hours to determine the progress of healing.
The team will provide more details following McCollum's examination.
Prior to Hawks loss, McCollum scored 29 and 33 points in wins against the Thunder and Pistons respectively, and is averaging 21.7 points per game this season – 2.3 better than his career average.
New Orleans has been plagued with injuries the last 12 months dating back to Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Jose Alvarado and Larry Nance, Jr. all missing significant time during the latter half of last season.
This season, Ingram missed three games due to a sore knee, while Jose Alvarado and Trey Murphy III are out due to injuries sustained in off-season workouts.
The Pelicans (4-2) have three straight road games ahead, starting with the Nuggets in Denver on Monday and the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Wednesday before traveling to Houston to play the Rockets to open the NBA In-Season Tournament on Friday.
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