The Nuggets regained home court in their opening round playoff series with a 120-115 win in Game 3 in Portland. Nikola Jokic played like the league's MVP again, but Austin Rivers was the story of the game. The veteran, who joined the team in late April following Jamal Murray's ACL tear, had his biggest game in a Denver uniform, on the biggest stage to this point.
The 9-year veteran scored 21 points, 16 of which came in the 4th quarter, making 4-of-the-5 3-pointers he buried in the game, in the final frame. Needless to say, his head coach was happy for Rivers, whom he reminded Nuggets Nation, was "sitting on his couch for 2 and half months...and he needed a team, and we needed a player."
Jokic dropped 36 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds, to go with 5 assists. Joker was the model of efficiency from the floor making 12-of-the 24 shots he took and knocking down 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Rivers was Denver's second leading scorer, followed by Michael Porter Jr. who had 15.
Rivers told Altitude TV postgame that his biggest successes often follow his biggest failures. Following the win he reflected on his journey from being traded from the Knicks to OKC and being cut then sitting home for over a month, questioning whether he'd find another team. "Everything happens for a reason," Rivers said, "I’ve grown so much as a human, even more so than as a basketball player, as a person…this game can bring you so low…and this game can make you feel so good too…I just gotta keep building. It’s 2-1 we’ve got a lot of work to do."
The Nuggets defense made things difficult on the Blazers who still took their customary 40-plus 3's but this they only made 14-of-45. Denver made 20-of-the-38 they shot from behind-the-arc. Damian Lillard led all scorers with 37, but only knocked down 5-of-14 3-pointers he took.
Denver has to play with more of a sense of urgency in order to ride the momentum of their 2 game win streak. "To be up 2-1 is great, Malone said, "but you can never be satisfied you can never exhale, you can never come up for air. We have to have a better mindset, to start the game in Game in Game 4. We were not ready to play tongihtl They came out and punched us in the mouth. Proud of our guys because we answered right away. That can night be our mindset to start Game 4. We have to come out with a hit-first mentality and play with a lead, instead of playing from behind."
This version of the Nuggets could certainly be described a hodgepodge in terms of current roster makeup, and the players who are playing big roles. In addition to Rivers, Facundo Campazzo was not slated to start when Denver signed him. JaMychal Green hit 2, 3's and had 8 points at the end of the 1st quarter to help Denver take the lead with a 19-4 run. And as Malone has pointed out multiple times, they have a pair of 2-way players in Shaq Harrison and Markus Howard playing real minutes. 2-way players are guys who bounce back-and-forth between the G-League and the NBA. So with 4-new starters on this team from the team that went to the Western Conference Finals in the Bubble, this team seems more than willing to play whomever they have available as Malone said, "we're like the Statue of Liberty, we take everybody!"