Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
Gary Trent Jr. Remains Unstoppable as Raptors Rally Past Heat
It's been four years since Gary Trent Jr. has felt this comfortable on a basketball court.
Back then, he was just a rookie trying to make a name for himself in the league. The Portland Trail Blazers sent him down to the G League to work on his craft with the expressed assignment to just play his game and let it fly.
There were no worries back then, Trent recalled. He averaged 33.3 points in six games with the Texas Legends and was quickly recalled to the big club.
Today, the Raptors are engendering that same feeling for Trent. As long as the defense is there, Toronto isn't going to complain. Play your game, the Raptors have told him.
"It’s just the opportunity to shoot and score and... kind of let me go out there and play," Trent said Monday. "I don't have to look over my shoulder anymore, if I miss a shot or kick it off my leg, you know, my coaching staff is believing in me. They're allowing me to play and allowing me to roll with the punches."
Well, that confidence is paying off. Trent posted his fifth straight 30-point performance with a team-high 33 points in a 110-106 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. It moved him into a tie with DeMar DeRozan for the franchise record for consecutive 30-point outings.
"It's a surreal feeling," Trent said of tying DeRozan's record. "What he's done for this organization, this city, the type of player he is, what he stands for, where he's from, his background. To share that with him, knowing what he does and what he means for this organization, I can't put it into words."
Trent has simply been unstoppable of late. He's taking and making tough shots at a clip like never before. In the span of one minute, he broke down P.J. Tucker with his shake and bake pull-up game for a three-pointer, beat Tucker again on the very next possession to put Toronto up eight midway through the fourth quarter, and then when the Heat switched Bam Adebayo onto Toronto's red-hot guard, he drew a shooting foul on a three-pointer. It turned a one-point Heat lead into a seven-point Raptors lead from which Toronto never looked back.
"Every time he starts iso-ing, you’re expecting him to walk away with a bucket these days, no matter what he has to do," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "He’s just full of confidence and he’s obviously really hard to guard right now."
In the third quarter, he and Fred VanVleet teammate up to drop 22 points, single-handedly outscoring the Heat while another stellar third quarter allowed Toronto to — stop me if you've heard this before — erase a double-digit deficit.
"He’s not in the flow (of the offense). He is the flow. He is his own flow," said VanVleet who tallied 21 points despite a four-point first half. "He's been hot and you’ve just got to keep feeding him and he's been carrying a big load offensively for us the last what five or six now?"
That confidence from Trent isn't a coincidence. He knows his leash is long because of the way Nurse coaches. He knows he won't get yanked if he dribbles the ball off his foot or takes an ill-advised jumper.
"They can't be worried about making mistakes and it costing them minutes," Nurse said. "I really try hard, even when they do make a couple (of mistakes), to let them try to make it through it in the moment."
That philosophy is so often the difference between developmental success and failure.
"There's a lot of great players in this league but it's really just the opportunity that they get to showcase what they do," Trent added. "The coaching staff believes in them and the coaching staff helps you, that's the product of it."
Trent Open To 3-Point Contest
Trent is now shooting 39.7% from three-point range and averaging 3.2 made three-pointers per game. He probably won't get an invite to the NBA's All-Star Game Three-Point Shootout, but he should certainly be in the conversation.
"It would be something cool to be a part of," he said. "Last year I feel like I had a lot of threes but they don't put your name in there unless you do it after years and years of knocking at that door. So I'm just going to continue to go out there and play and whatever happens, happens."
Spoelstra On Lowry's Absence
Kyle Lowry missed Tuesday's game as he continued to attend to an ongoing personal matter.
“We understand all the things we are missing but this is bigger than that," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I communicate with him every day and everybody else as well. He’s part of our family and we just want to be there for him."
Drake Among Fans Returning to Arena
Drake was among the 500 fans allowed back into Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday night. He did, however, get a special seat right beside Raptors vice-chairman and president Masai Ujiri.
Up Next: Chicago Bulls
The Raptors will have the day off before getting right back to it Thursday night when DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls come to town.
