Duke basketball: Gary Trent Jr.’s big night overshadowed by Damian Lillard
Former Duke basketball standout Gary Trent Jr. had his big night overshadowed by his Portland Trail Blazers teammate Damian Lillard.
It’s certainly not a surprise to see Damian Lillard explode for 40+ points but if you are a Duke basketball junkie you were upset to see the All-Star drop 45 points on the Denver Nuggets last night.
The latest outburst by Lillard overshadowed the standout performance of former Blue Devil Gary Trent Jr., who scored 27 points on a scorching 10-of-15 shooting, 7-of-10 from 3-point range.
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In Portland’s 125-115 victory, the shooting guard also posted three rebounds, four assists, and two steals in addition to being the game-high leader in +/- at +19.
Gary Trent Jr. continues to impress in the NBA’s restarted season as he has posted at least 16 points in each of the Blazers’ four games with Thursday’s output being his highest point total.
The ex-Duke sharpshooter is currently second behind his Blue Devil teammate Grayson Allen in 3-point shooting percentage in the resumed season at 62.9% while Allen is firing at 66.7% from 3-point range.
On the other side of the court on Thursday night, former National Champion in Durham Mason Plumlee also had himself a very positive outing for the Denver Nuggets with 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists coming off the bench.
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Both teams seem destined for the playoffs, although in the case of the Trail Blazers it will most likely be in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed Playoff Play-In Games as the Denver Nuggets are sitting comfortably as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
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Portland and Denver both have four games remaining in the regular season with the Blazers’ next contest coming against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, August 8 at 1:00pm EST on TNT as the Nuggets will follow that game on the network against the Utah Jazz at 3:30pm EST.