Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard had high praise for Gary Trent Jr. after the Blazers downed the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.

Trent poured in 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field, helping the Trail Blazers snatch a win from the defending champions.

The performance was all the more impressive because it followed a game where Trent saw under six minutes of playing time. Lillard said the former Duke product's showing on Monday speaks volumes about his character and attitude:

“The easy thing to do is to get mad, get in your own way, you know, get in your own head, cancel yourself out,” Lillard said, via Jason Quick of The Athletic. “And it’s usually hard for young players to overcome that, get out of their own way sometimes. So I think it just said a lot about him, that he came out in a big game for us … right after that (5:55) game and have this kind of performance. I just think it speaks to how tough he is mentally and how locked in he is to this season, and how much it means to him. I think it was impressive.”

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Trent saw an uptick in playing time and usage during the NBA restart in Orlando and looked like a rotation fixture heading into the new season.

But Portland added wings like Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. in the offseason while also re-signing Rodney Hood. All the roster moves seemed to throw a wrench in Trent's path.

However, Trent proved again why he is such an invaluable member of this  Blazers team, and Lillard feels his mental toughness bodes well for Trent individually and the team as a whole.