Raptors coach Nick Nurse sends message by benching Barnes, Trent Jr.
Many Toronto Raptors fans were probably a little shook to see Scottie Barnes and Gary Trent Jr. coming off the bench against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
Barnes had been out of the starting lineup just once in his young NBA career: Game 4 of last year’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers while dealing with an injury.
While he was often used in and out of the starting lineup in Portland, Trent, meanwhile, hadn’t come off the bench for Toronto since last season’s home opener against the Washington Wizards.
Pascal Siakam returned for his first game in nearly three weeks, while O.G. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Thad Young, and Juancho Hernangomez started together for the first time.
But despite the shock selection of Young and Hernangomez, Toronto still coasted pretty handily to a win over the Cavaliers, pulling out a 100-88 victory on the night.
Barnes logged 25 minutes for the Raptors, picking up 11 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Meanwhile, Trent put up 14 points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes.
“I’m just trying to get the team to play as best as possible,” Nurse said. “It didn’t seem to bother (Gary) one bit. 14 (points) and seven (rebounds), I’ll that take that from him every night. He was really good on the glass.”
Nick Nurse says that Gary Trent Jr. (and Scottie Barnes) found out they’d be coming off the bench at #Raptors shootaround when going through their matchups.
“I’m just trying to get the team to play as best as possible…. didn’t seem to bother (Gary) one bit.” pic.twitter.com/U1bGnfcgRt
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) November 29, 2022
“When [Trent] came in, he was ready to play. Strange to have that many weapons [off the bench],” Nurse added.
Barnes had missed the Raptors last two games with a knee injury, while Trent had played both games but had missed three games prior with a non-COVID illness.
“I think that it was more of a case of not throwing out a whole bunch of guys out there at the same time that were out of rhythm, and hadn’t played, or maybe playing one game, etc.,” Nurse elaborated on his lineup choices. “I’m just trying to keep some balance with some guys that have been logging some minutes, so that’s what we decided to do tonight.”
Trent didn’t have a post-game press conference, though Barnes was made available to the media.
“It was a little different, for sure. It was alright. I don’t know. It was alright,” Barnes said, not exactly inspiring confidence about coming off the bench.
Scottie Barnes with a couple of shrugs when asked about coming off the bench tonight. 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/nzaTcnYnu0
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) November 29, 2022
While Nurse has mostly been complimentary of Barnes throughout his second NBA season, he’s been a little more challenging towards Trent, with some eye-raising comments about his defensive effort at a practice last week.
Nick Nurse was asked about Gary Trent Jr's deflections, which are down from 3.4 per game last season to 2.4. Had some strong words.
"It's disappointing… We want him to be a disruptor. He kinda fits us if he does that, and if he doesn't, he doesn't fit us." pic.twitter.com/21xuvzso0J
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) November 22, 2022
“It’s disappointing. We’d like to get him a lot more aggressive on defence this year. I would say that’s been a, well, I don’t know what the word is — it’s been a little bit of a negative. He’s capable of really getting after the ball and getting his hands on the ball a lot, and that’s what we want him to do,” Nurse said earlier this month. “We’re gonna get him his shots and get him his points but we want him to be a disruptor. He kinda fits us if he does that, and if he doesn’t, he doesn’t fit us.”
Barnes came in for Hernangomez with 5:40 left in the first quarter on the Raptors’ first substitution cycle of the game, while Trent came in for Siakam with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter.
“All I’ve ever asked for was opportunity,” Trent said at his end-of-season press conference last year about playing in the starting lineup. “It was great for [Nurse] to give me the opportunity to showcase my work and showcase what I could do.”
Like most NBA coaches, Nurse doesn’t seem to be too clear about whether the new starting look is a one-off or if it’ll be a trend.
“I probably have to look at the lineup that we’re gonna be facing in the next game. And then just trying to figure it out. It could be totally different,” Nurse laughed.
Toronto next plays against the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday night. One can only wonder what that lineup will look like.
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