Rudy Gay's jumper lifts Raptors 109-108 over the Nuggets

TORONTO, CANADA – FEBRUARY 12: Rudy Gay #22 of the Toronto Raptors takes a shot against the Denver Nuggets

Any time a team swings for a franchise player in a trade, the next few games are followed by the fans with trepidation. Did they just commit their future to this player? Is he really as good as advertised? Can he lead them to the promised land? Or did they just mortgage their future for a mirage of a hope? In case of Toronto’s trade for Rudy Gay, the concerns were more than lukewarm. Gay was an athletic wing who had never quite transcended from star to superstar. Superstars take matter in their own hands and close games down the stretch. For the Raptors, the trade was more than just sending away Jose Calderon and getting Rudy Gay; it locked up their cap space for the near future and established Rudy Gay as the face of the franchise, for better or worse.

The people of Toronto can breathe easy as the man is delivering on the promise he carried in. In the space of three games, Rudy has hit two game winners. After defeating the Indiana Pacers in overtime five days ago, today he dropped in a pull up jumper to help edge the Denver Nuggets 109-108.

For the Nuggets, Ty Lawson led the way with 29 points on 12 of 20 shooting. Kenneth Faried chipped in with 15 points on 6 for 8 shooting with his 11 rebounds. Anthony Randolph had 16 points on 6 for 13 shooting with 7 rebounds and Andre Miller added 12 on 5 of 6 shooting with 5 assists and 6 rebounds.

The Raptors were led by Rudy Gay, who had 17 points on 6 for 14 shooting in 25 minutes with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. DeMar DeRozen had 22 points on 8 of 18 shooting with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Kyle Lowry added 11 points and 10 assists while shooting 4 of 10 from the field. John Lucas III had 14 points on 5-9 shooting. Alan Anderson added 10 points on 4-7 shooting.

The Nuggets outrebounded the Raptors 45-38 and shot a better percentage from the floor, 51.8% to their 47%. With this win, the Raptors improved to 20-32 and dropped the Nuggets to 33-20. The Nuggets are now fifth in the Western Conference and are 8-2 in their last 10 games. The Raptors are 5-5 over their last 10 games and still have a hope of making it to the post-season. The Bucks are 25-25 and holding on to the 8th spot. The Sixers trail them at 22-28 and the Raptors are snapping at the heels of those two teams. With the trade deadline looming, there are chances that Andrea Bargnani won’t be a Raptor after 21 February. With the arrival of Rudy Gay, it’s clear that Andrea will always be second fiddle to him and he may want to switch teams to get somewhere he can be the main man or on a playoff bound team.

Here are the full highlights from this game-