Ball Durham
Fansided

Duke in the NBA: Gary Trent Jr. Struggles Shooting in Trail Blazers Win

By Kevin Connelly

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 10: Gary Trent Jr #2 of the Duke Blue Devils pulls up for a shot against Khameron Davis #13 of the Pittsburgh Panthers at Petersen Events Center on January 10, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 10: Gary Trent Jr #2 of the Duke Blue Devils pulls up for a shot against Khameron Davis #13 of the Pittsburgh Panthers at Petersen Events Center on January 10, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Gary Trent Jr. was ready to follow up his great debut at the Las Vegas Summer League, but he struggled to find his shot in his second professional game.

The most important thing for a shooter to do when his shot isn’t falling is to find other ways to contribute for his team and that’s exactly what Gary Trent Jr. did today for the Portland Trail Blazers Summer League team.

In Portland’s 85-68 blowout win over the Atlanta Hawks Summer League team, Trent Jr. only managed eight points in 21 minutes of action coming off the bench.

More from Ball Durham

Despite shooting three of twelve from the field and missing both of his attempts from three-point range, Trent managed to grab four rebounds, dish out two assists, and block one shot. Two of Trent Jr.’s eight points came at the free throw line in his lone attempts there.

Trent Jr. also showed great strides on the defensive end, guarding the lethal and dangerous guards of the Atlanta Hawks such as No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft Trae Young, Jaylen Morris, and Jaylen Adams.

After back to back days with a game, the Portland Trail Blazers Summer League team will get the day off on Monday before heading back on the floor on Tuesday to face the San Antonio Spurs Summer League team at 4:00 pm ET, which can be seen on NBATV.

The one and done out of Duke showed that he has the ability to get very hot from three-point range as well as go through severe dry spells, however, no matter whether Trent Jr. was hot or cold, he could always get a bucket or get to the free throw line when he was aggressive and driving to the basket.

Gary Trent Jr. will look to get back on track next week as he tries to show Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts that he belongs with the NBA team from Opening Night through the regular season.

Home/Blue Devils in the NBA