Austin Rivers should be sitting with an injury; he's winning games for the Nuggets instead

Austin Rivers sprained his right thumb two weeks ago in the Nuggets’ win over the Warriors. The prognosis he got from Denver’s medical team was grim: the injury would take 4-6 weeks of rest to fully heal.

The shooting guard could be sitting on the bench alongside Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and the rest of Denver’s inactives, but Rivers has played in the Nuggets’ last five games. Make no mistake, his hand is bothering him. You can tell based on the fact that he shot just 1-16 from 3-point range since the injury and prior to Sunday’s game in Oklahoma City.

But Rivers is soldiering on.

“We just don’t have bodies, really,” Rivers said after Denver’s win over the Thunder. “It wasn’t painful enough to where I felt like I couldn’t play, so I’m just playing through it.”

Rivers was phenomenal in the Nuggets’ underwhelming but needed 99-95 victory over the Thunder. He opened by swishing his first four 3-pointers of the game, all of which came in the first half. He tacked on another triple in the closing minutes of the third quarter and one final long-distance bomb in the fourth. Rivers’ 3 from the right corner with three minutes left in regulation tied the score at 93. It was one of the key buckets from the Nuggets’ 11-2 run over the final 4:32 of the fourth quarter.

Rivers also chipped in defensively on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and spelled Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets’ primary matchup on OKC’s point guard, throughout the night. Gilgeous-Alexander torched Denver for 27 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in the Thunder’s win over the Nuggets back on Dec. 22. Denver held him to just eight points on 2-14 shooting this time around.

“He was our defensive player of the game, but he was also probably our offensive player of the game,” Michael Malone said after his first game back from a four-game COVID absence. “He was our Bud Light player of the game. Or maybe El Mayor Tequila player of the game.”

The Nuggets needed Rivers’ season-high 22 points off the bench because Denver once again didn’t provide Nikola Jokic with much help. Thirty-eight games into the season, it’s been a disheartening theme of this year that unfortunately isn’t changing soon. Like he does every night, Jokic navigated countless double-teams to tally 22 points to go with 18 rebounds and 6 assists but shot just 8-21 from the floor in his fourth-worst shooting performance of the season. Jeff Green supplied 16 points off the Nuggets’ bench and was Denver’s third-leading scorer. Will Barton added 14 points but on 5-14 shooting.

Rivers has hardly been consistent this season but admitted earlier this year that he was playing hurt in October and November. He said he got healthy — both physically and mentally — during a bout with COVID in early-December. Prior to his thumb injury, Rivers had been giving the Nuggets strong minutes off the bench. His shot was coming around to.

Of course, Rivers’ 3-ball is what placed him in Nuggets lore forever. Rivers signed a 10-day contract with Denver in April of last season. Soon enough, he was starting for the Nuggets in the playoffs after injuries to Jamal Murray, Will Barton and PJ Dozier. Rivers then exploded for 16 points in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 120-115 Game 3 win over the Blazers that gave Denver a 2-1 series lead. It was his most notable moment in a Nuggets uniform until Sunday.

Rivers is back with the Nuggets this season partly due to his postseason play, but also because he wanted to remain in Denver. He’s fond of the team, the culture, the locker room and the coach. Malone showed trust in Rivers during last year’s playoffs. Rivers rewarded him with strong defense and a game-winning 3-point shooting barrage in the Nuggets’ classic Game 3 win. There’s a level of trust between the two that’s been evident since Rivers got to town.

“The one thing you can say about Coach Malone is he’s fair,” Rivers said. “If a guy’s got it going, he trusts you. If it’s the end of a game, he trusts guys and he’s fair about it.”

Rivers’ Game 3 vs. the Blazers was an unlikely performance from an unlikely hero. So was Sunday’s 22-point outburst that no one had any confidence was coming.

No one, except for Rivers.

“For me, I’ve just been playing too long to lose confidence in myself,” he said. “I’ve been doing this too long. I’ve done it too many times. I’ve been in this moment too many times. End of the game, big game, playoffs, whatever. I’ve been through this for years now.”

“I don’t really get fazed by the pressure or at the end of the game. Shit, I was born with pressure. My last name. I’ve had pressure since I was like 12, to be honest.”