Gary Trent Jr. scored 25 of his career-high 44 points in the first half to lift the visiting Toronto Raptors to a 135-115 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
Trent made 17 of 19 shots from the floor — including 7 of 9 from 3-point range — to pace the Raptors. He drained a mid-range jumper with 3:48 remaining in the third quarter to eclipse his previous career-high point total of 31, set in Toronto’s 113-103 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 31.
Malachi Flynn finished with 20 points for the Raptors, who erupted for 47 points in the opening quarter after making 17 of 20 shots from the floor (franchise-best 85.0 percent). Toronto didn’t take its foot off the gas and set a franchise record for points in a half at 87.
The Raptors finished the game shooting a robust 61.6 percent from the floor and 53.1 percent from 3-point range.
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Toronto’s offensive explosion was made all the more impressive considering the team was without key cogs Pascal Siakam (rest), Kyle Lowry (foot infection) and Fred VanVleet (hip).
Collin Sexton scored 29 points, Darius Garland had 19 and Kevin Love added 18 for the Cavaliers, who trimmed a 38-point deficit to 12 with 9:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. Cleveland, however, ran out of steam and saw its modest two-game winning streak come to a halt.
The Raptors bolted out of the blocks to begin the game as eight different players recorded at least one basket during the first quarter. Yuta Watanabe capped the quarter with an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Toronto a 47-26 lead.
Trent drained four 3-pointers and OG Anunoby converted three times from beyond the arc en route to accounting for the Raptors’ first 27 points of the second quarter. Trent’s fourth triple extended Toronto’s advantage to 74-40 with 4:36 remaining.
Watanabe and Chris Boucher each sank a 3-pointer and Rodney Hood banked his bid off the glass and in to give the Raptors an 87-54 lead.
Trent made his first two 3-point attempts to start the third quarter for Toronto, which recorded just its fourth win in its last 19 games.
–Field Level Media
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