https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...s-to-enjoy-career-night-on-21st-birthday.html
OKLAHOMA CITY – Less than 24 hours before the best game of his career,
Portland Trail Blazers guard
Gary Trent Jr. received intravenous fluids as he lay motionless on a treatment table in the visitor’s locker room at American Airlines Center in Dallas. He was pale and so nauseous that he struggled to even respond to his teammates when they asked how he was feeling, fearing that he would throw up if he tried to talk.
“There was no way I thought he was playing today,” Blazers forward
Carmelo Anthony said. "I tip my hat off to him for giving it a shot and sticking with it.”
The flu didn’t stop Trent from putting together the best performance of his career Saturday night -- on what happened to be his 21st birthday.
The young guard scored a career-high 30 points to go along with five rebounds, shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from beyond the arc in
the Blazers’ 119-106 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is the first Blazer to score at least 30 points off the bench since Allen Crabbe reached the mark in January 2017.
“There was no time when I didn’t think I would be good to go,” Trent said. "Our job is to play basketball. Some people go to work sick. You still have to work, you still have to do your job. I was always going to be available, no matter what my state was.”
Trent might have been the only person inside the Blazers’ locker room that never doubted whether he would play Saturday night.
On Friday, the second-year guard tried to play through illness in Dallas, but had to depart the game in the fourth quarter after feeling dizzy and light-headed. Blazers guard
Damian Lillard said that Trent was then so groggy and sore Saturday morning that he barely made it to a team meeting.
But while Lillard was impressed to see Trent play through illness Saturday night, he wasn’t surprised to see the young guard sinking shots when he was finally given the opportunity.
“We knew he could fill it up coming in,” Lillard said. “Even in training camp his first year, he was scoring a lot, he was able to get baskets, but I think his understanding of the game has improved from last year to this year, as far as recognizing play calls, remembering coverages, knowing personnel, knowing where to be, knowing how to make plays and be in position. He’s gotten better in that way.”
Trent, whose father, Gary, played for the Blazers for three seasons, spent his rookie year in Portland working to improve his game behind the scenes, making just 15 appearances for the team in the 2018-19 season. He was expected to once again see only limited minutes in his second year with the team.
But injuries have thrust the second-year guard into the rotation. On Saturday, the Blazers took the floor with just eight available players after
trading Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver to the Sacramento Kings for Trevor Ariza, Caleb Swanigan and Wenyen Gabriel earlier in the day. With limited options off the bench, Blazers coach
Terry Stotts asked Trent to play a team-leading 36 minutes against the Thunder.
"I was really happy that Gary Trent had a good game,” Stotts said. “It was the best game of his career and particularly coming off illness, I thought that was a great effort by him.”
Prior to Saturday’s game, Trent was shooting just 36.1 percent from the field and averaging just 4.2 points per game this season. But if his performance Saturday is a sign of things to come, that could be big for the Blazers, who rank 29th in the NBA in bench points per game (27.2).
Trent is likely to see big minutes again Monday when the team hosts the Golden State Warriors. The Blazers’ trade with the Kings isn’t expected to be finalized until Tuesday, due to restrictions in Gabriel’s contract, meaning that the team will have to wait until later in the week for its reinforcements from Sacramento. That will give Trent another chance to prove that he deserves to continue getting key minutes in the rotation moving forward.
“Sometimes, it’s a matter of opportunity and getting comfortable,” Lillard said. “Sometimes, you might have a guy who can really score, but it takes time to get comfortable to score in an NBA game. I think that’s what type of situation it is with GT.”
Whatever happens moving forward, Trent won’t forget the night that he pushed himself to play through illness and scored 30 points on his 21st birthday.
But while he said he was happy to contribute on the floor Saturday night, Trent also said that a better birthday gift would have been a win for his team.
“We came here to win," Trent said. "We’re not here to get numbers, but it was a great thing on my birthday. Okay, hooray, but you know we lost. We got to go back to the drawing board and the good thing about the NBA is we have another game on Monday.”
