Rivers to the rescue with 16-point fourth quarter in Game 3 victory

When the Denver Nuggets signed Austin Rivers in late April, they knew they got lucky; Rivers was clearly the best and most experienced veteran available after a season-ending injury to Jamal Murray and lesser injuries to fellow guards Will Barton and Monte Morris left the Nuggets bereft of reliable guard play.

They found out how lucky in Thursday’s Game 3 in Portland.

Rivers took full advantage of the Trail Blazers’ porous defense; exploding for five three-pointers and 16 fourth-quarter points to ignite a stagnant Nuggets offense and propel them to a 120-115 road victory that left Portland’s newly enlarged Moda Center crowd in shock.

MVP favorite Nikola Jokic dominated as usual, scoring 36 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and handing out five assists, but he didn’t mince words after the game.

“(Rivers) won the game, he brought the energy, he scored when we needed,” Jokic said. “He was really good.”

“Good” is certainly what the Nuggets expected when they brought Rivers to Denver, but a clutch, 21-point, four-rebound, two-assist, one-block playoff performance while marking perennial All-Star Damian Lillard and sharpshooter C.J. McCollum was a lot more than that.

“The guy was sitting at home for two-and-a-half months, waiting for the phone to ring, and it wasn’t ringing. That’s crazy to even think about,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “Austin Rivers is a good player. He’s played in 45 playoff games prior to this 2021 playoffs. It just worked out that he’s here.”

After the game, Rivers made an emotional speech, detailing how vulnerable he felt after being unceremoniously dumped by the New York Knicks prior to joining the Nuggets, pointing out how he hoped this relationship with the Nuggets would become a long-term one.

Winning playoff games will do that for you.

“It feels good. I don’t know how much I can elaborate on that, this feels really good,” Rivers said after the game. “This game can bring you the lowest feeling in the world. I swear, some of these nights, you feel so low. And this game can make you feel so good about yourself, too.”

***

NEXT UP: Game 4: Nuggets at Trail Blazers (Nuggets lead series 2-1) | Saturday, May 29 at 2:00 p.m. | TV: TNT

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NOTES

• Will Barton warmed up on the court with the Nuggets prior to Game 3, an indication that he may be able to return for either Saturday’s Game 4 or Monday’s Game 5. Even if he’s less than fully healthy, Barton’s mere presence would dramatically improve the Nuggets’ offense and court-sense.

• Nikola Jokic has been so dominant — scoring 34, 38 and 36 points in the first three games of this series — that the Trail Blazers are running out of options to slow him down. Enes Kanter has been so ineffective that he was held to only six minutes on the court, while starting center Jusuf Nurkic has become so flustered at times that he’s fouled out of the last two games.”That dude is so good at basketball,” Austin Rivers said.

• Michael Porter Jr. scored 15 points on Thursday, but he clearly had trouble fighting through the Blazers’ physical defense. Porter Jr. looked discombobulated on offense and defense far too many times in Game 3, and how he responds in Game 4 will be another sign of how quickly the immensely talented 22-year-old has matured as a player.

• The Nuggets shot 20-of-38 (53 percent) from three-point range, coming within shouting distance of their franchise playoff record of 22, which they set in last year’s playoffs against Utah.

• Denver took the regular-season series from Portland, 2-1; the same state their playoff series is in after three games.

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THE FINAL WORD

“We’re a resilient group, we’re a tough group and we’re like the Statue of Liberty, man — we take everybody.” — Head coach Michael Malone, on the injury-riddled Nuggets.

***

ROTATION (MINUTES)

Starters
G Facundo Campazzo (32)
G Austin Rivers (37)
F Aaron Gordon (34)
F Michael Porter Jr. (33)
C Nikola Jokic (35)

Bench
G Monte Morris (25)
F JaMychal Green (17)
F Paul Millsap (12)
G Markus Howard (9)
G Shaquille Harrison (5)
F Bol Bol (DNP-CD)
F Vlatko Cancar (DNP-CD)
C JaVale McGee (DNP-CD)
F Zeke Nnaji (DNP-CD)

***

INJURY WATCH

• Will Barton (hamstring) was injured on Apr. 23. Coach Michael Malone said Barton will be out “for the foreseeable future” on Apr. 24, but it’s possible that he could return by Game 4 of the Nuggets’ first-round playoff series.
• P.J. Dozier (right hip tightness) left the May 3 game and is out indefinitely. He will not return for the first round of the playoffs.
• Jamal Murray (torn left ACL) was injured in the final minute of the Apr. 12 game. His season is over, and realistically, Murray will be out until at least the 2022 All-Star break.

***

Shawn Drotar is the host of “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar;” weeknights from 10:00 p.m. to midnight — only on 104.3 The Fan

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