Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Gary Trent Jr. Plays Hero as Raptors Finally Hit A Game Winner
If Gary Trent Jr. had been turned the other way, Nick Nurse would have called a timeout. It would have been a pretty typical timeout for a coach whose team trailed in the final second and it would have allowed the Toronto Raptors to draw up one final play to potentially take a lead.
But when Trent grabbed the rebound he was facing the Washington Wizards' bucket and he immediately took off up the court. So the Raptors coach let things roll.
"I’d seen there was about five seconds left on the clock when I got the rebound," Trent said. "Went down there, wanted to get a clean look. I felt if I got a clean look off, I’d have a pretty good chance of it going in."
Trent ran up the court, got some space as Raul Neto tried to draw an offensive foul, and the newest member of the organization let it fly. Draining the first game-winning shot of the season with a pull-up 3-pointer to clinch a 103-101 victory for the Raptors on Monday night.
"Listen, that was fortunate that that happened that way, but we're due, we were due for one of those to go in," Nurse said. "I've been saying that for a while. So heads up, I say lookout."
It was the antithesis of how this season has gone for Toronto. Not only did they nail the game-winner, something they've failed to do all season, but they did it while climbing out of a 19-point deficit largely thanks to their bench unit and some development from their youngest players.
The biggest star of the night might have been Malachi Flynn. While he didn't get the start with Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry out as Nurse had suggested he would on Sunday, Flynn essentially played starter's minutes and made the most of them.
"Malachi had a great game," Nurse said. "I mean really, really good game by him."
The 22-year-old rookie showed the kind of skills the Raptors have been hoping for from him. He was aggressive getting to the rim, running the offence, and taking control of things down the stretch.
"I think just coming out being aggressive," he said. "We got a lot of players down so I know a lot wouldn't be on Siakam’s shoulders and the Wizards would be really focused on him and the other guys, so just trying to help make it easy on them. If I'm doing things then in the end it's gonna make their job easier. So that's what I tried to do."
On the defensive end, Flynn was superb. He had one of those VanVleet-esque box scores with four steals and three so-called blocks to go with his 16 points and five assists.
"I think he’s learning a lot from his veterans that he’s playing behind because he’s making a lot of similar plays," Nurse said of Flynn. "Instinctual, anticipation, quick hands, all those things come into play when you’re making plays like that."
For Pascal Siakam, it was another night of getting to the rim with ease. Nobody on the Wizards seemed to be able to stop him off the dribble. In the first quarter alone he shot 4-for-7, scoring 10 points of his 22 points all without a single 3-pointer made.
OG Anunoby's night may have been a little quiet from a box score perspective, but his ball skills were dazzling. He showed off that Siakam spin move numerous times and has continued to shoulder more of the team's offensive load.
The only problem for Toronto is it came in a game the organization may have been better off losing. If the Raptors aren't going to make the playoffs this season, this year is going to be all about the lottery, and considering Washington came into the game trailing Toronto by 1.5 games in the lottery standings, the Raptors been better off dropping this one and inching closer to the top of the lottery standings.
Up Next: Los Angeles Lakers
The Raptors will be right back at it on Tuesday night when the LeBron James, Anthony Davis-less Los Angeles Lakers come to Tampa for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
