Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Gary Trent Jr. Breaks Out Late as Raptors Capture Come-From-Behind Victory Over Grizzlies
Crisis averted. Scottie Barnes is still very good.
Maybe the Toronto Raptors rookie just needed a break. It’d be understandable considering his 39 minutes on Wednesday pushed him over his 595 minutes total from last season in his lone year at Florida State. It would have been a fair excuse after hitting his first NBA slump.
“I don't think you're always going to be in a great state of mind and your body hurts sometimes and you've just try to be able to brush those off and get onto the next one,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of Barnes pre-game.
Well, after two days off, Barnes got right back to looking like the Rookie of the Year frontrunner, helping to lead Toronto to a 126-113 come-from-behind victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
"He had tremendous energy. I thought he played aggressively. When he had the ball he pushed it hard up the court, he tried to get into the seams early," Nurse said post-game. "Like most of them, he really picked up his defense, where he was much more solid and contested shots better and also rebounded the ball a little better."
After a pair of turnovers to start the night, Barnes settled down, getting back to his close-range floater and sprinting down the court to create buckets in transition. His highlight of the night came via a half-court buzzer-beater just before halftime, his lone three-pointer on a 17-point, nine-rebound, and three-assist evening.
Barnes was the lone bright spot in the first half for Toronto who continued to have major defensive lapses early. Coming into the night the Raptors had boasted the league's sixth stingiest defense in the paint, holding opposing teams to just 42.3 points inside per game. On Wednesday, however, Memphis equaled that in the first half alone as Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, and Jaren Jackson Jr. feasted inside, helping the Grizzlies tally 71 points before the break.
But that all changed in the second half, as the Raptors clamped down, revving up their defensive intensity, and tightening the screws, if you will.
"There was plenty of screws to be turned after that first-half defense," Nurse said. "When your defensive execution and you start doing the schemes and you start playing help defense it always turns into playing and better execution help offense."
Precious Achiuwa was the first to break out, coming alive in the third to nail three three-pointers and scoring 17 points in the quarter to erase Memphis 12 point lead. It was the first time all season — ever, really — that the 6-foot-9 big man had shown that kind of range.
“I think he played a really simple game. All the things we saw tonight are nothing that anybody has asked him not to do," said Fred VanVleet. "He shot catch-and-shoot 3s, put the ball in the floor in transition, he set screens and he rolled. Just his presence, with that frame and that athleticism, he can be a problem. There are flashes. We’ve seen it."
But Gary Trent Jr. was the real difference-maker for Toronto, bouncing back from a 2-for-7 first half to explode for 17 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter alone. He did it while getting to the in the paint a little bit more, nailing a pair of close-range floaters and getting downhill to draw a foul midway through the fourth.
"Obviously people know I’m a pretty good shooter. They try to run me off the line so I don’t get a shot up," Trent said. "Pump fake, get in there."
Watanabe Makes his Season Debut
Yuta Watanabe picked up right where he left off last season, doing all the little things that have endeared him to the Raptors organization and fanbase alike. He grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds, swiped two seals, and recorded a pair of blocks including one that could have easily ended up with his face smeared across a Dillon Brooks poster had he missed.
"I told you guys: I’ll jump 100 times," Watanabe said. "If I can jump 100 times, I’m gonna jump 100 times. That’s what I’m gonna do."
Up Next: Indiana Pacers
The Raptors will wrap up their road trip on Friday night when they take on the Indiana Pacers at 8 p.m. ET.
