Damian Lillard, the mentor, and Gary Trent Jr., the pupil, put on a show in Portland Trail Blazers’ win over Denver

At this point, maybe it’s time that Portland Trail Blazers’ guard Gary Trent Jr. no longer be regarded as a story every time he lights up the scoreboard at the NBA bubble.

But let’s hold off on that for at least another game, because his performance Thursday night during a 125-115 win over Denver was his best yet and only eclipsed by Damian Lillard’s 45-point night that included 12 assists and career-high tying 11 three-pointers on 18 attempts. The efforts of both helped Portland sink a franchise-record 23 three-pointers.

Maybe Lillard’s outing should be the lead story. Then again, Lillard being Lillard is not exactly breaking news. So, let’s circle back to him after spending more time on Trent, the unexpected storyline. For now, because, nights like these are swiftly becoming old hat for the 2018 second-round pick out of Duke.

Trent came off the bench to score 27 points on 8 of 12 shooting while making 7 of 10 three-point attempts. He has now made 22 of 35 (62.9%) three-point shots since the NBA restart. He’s averaging 20.2 points per game at the NBA bubble.

For the Blazers (32-28) to make a push for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs they likely needed to find consistent help in the backcourt behind Lillard and CJ McCollum, but this is ridiculous.

While most observers couldn’t possibly have seen this coming from a man averaging 8.2 points per game on the season, Trent said he is not at all surprised by his showing thus far.

“I work for this,” he said. “This is everything that I’ve worked for. This is what it should be. That’s why I put countless hours in. That’s why I go to the gym at night. So, this is not a surprise. It’s not a shock to me. I’m here to play.”

Adding a devastating three-point marksman to the rotation has been just the extra spark Portland needed during this unusual playoff push that has seen the Blazers trim eight-place Memphis’ lead from 3 1/2 games down to half game.

Nobody is more proud of Trent than his mentor, Lillard. After the game, he recalled how he pulled Trent aside in February to tell him how proud he was of his development to that point. Trent underwent a long, difficult adjustment to the NBA and after 18 months, and become a regularly contributor.

Now, Trent is flourishing exactly when the team needs him the most. It’s one thing to make a bunch of three-point baskets, it’s another to do so in high-leverage games with the postseason on the line and against high-quality teams such as Boston (45-23), Houston (42-25) and Denver (45-24).

On Thursday, Trent made back-to-back threes in the second quarter to give Portland a 36-28 lead. Another three later in the quarter made it 50-40. Deep into the third quarter, Denver pulled to within 89-87 eventually leading to Trent hitting a three to push the Blazers’ lead to 92-87 with .7 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Portland fell behind 93-92 early in the fourth before Trent stepped up again by sinking a three to give the Blazers a 95-93 lead. Trent’s three with 3:00 remaining in the game capped a 13-2 run that broke the game open for Portland at 118-108. He dropped another three down before the game ended for good measure.

“Every time I pass him the ball or he gets the ball and it’s going up, I feel like 100 percent confident that it’s going in, like I’m shooting, or something,” Lillard said.

Oh yeah, Lillard. Almost forgot.

He also went bonkers Thursday night, two days after not scoring against Houston until late in the second quarter before finishing with 21 points on 6 of 19 shooting. He made amends by going to work on Denver right way.

Lillard scored 14 points in the first quarter, reached 20 by halftime, added 15 in the third and finished strong with 10 in the fourth. His 13 of 21 shooting performance was his best at the bubble, and according to Lillard, was always on the horizon.

“The first few games, the ball, I thought, was coming off of my hands really well, I just wasn’t making it,” Lillard said. “I think it was just timing and the fact that we haven’t been playing in games…It just takes time.”

Lillard went on to say that it felt good to finally click and be able to set the tone early, be aggressive and assert himself.

Later in the game, he did the same on defense, helping to slow down Denver’s 6-foot-11 Michael Porter Jr., who got off to a hot start that included 10 quick points in the first quarter.

The 6-2 Lillard said he asked coach Terry Stotts at halftime if he could be matched up on Porter. The result was similar to the job Lillard he did on Jayson Tatum in the second half against Boston on Sunday.

“He was comfortable for a little bit and I just wanted to make him feel uncomfortable,” Lillard said of Porter. “Be physical and make him work for it, and I thought I did a pretty solid job at that.”

Let’s not forget about Trent’s efforts on Porter, either. Stotts credited the 6-5 Trent for turning the tide of the game in the first half after he started guarding Porter, his former childhood teammate and rival in the AAU circuit.

What goes up, usually comes down where gravity is concerned, and that is also applies to shooting percentages. Trent likely won’t shoot 60-plus percent from three for the rest of his career. But when Trent’s hot streak ends, Lillard is confident that his teammate will ride through whatever cold patch he experiences and keep firing until he comes out of it.

“You know at some point you’re going to start missing some shots,” Lillard said. “I just love his mentality. If he sees a shot, he doesn’t turn it down. If he misses one, he thinks he’s gong to make the next one.”

Trent said he’ll never be afraid to take shots not matter the situation.

”You can‘t be out there scary,” Trent said. “You’ve got to go out there and play. Play your game and make or miss, live with your results.”

So far in Florida, the Blazers have been thriving with those results.

— Aaron Fentress 5/8 afentress@Oregonian.com 5/8 @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).

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