Duke basketball guard pushing for major role in playoff chase
Former Duke basketball guard Austin Rivers is getting comfortable in his new home.
It had been over two months since Austin Rivers played in an NBA game, but the former Duke basketball freshman guard is now getting comfortable in his new home.
Rivers was traded from the New York Knicks to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the NBA Trading Deadline as the former Blue Devil was quickly bought out by his new team.
It had been rumored that the Milwaukee Bucks were the favorites to sign Austin Rivers, but the franchise made other moves at the guard position, leaving the 28-year-old on the open market.
Denver Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray went down with a torn ACL, and the Western Conference power called Rivers and inked him to a 10-day contract before signing him for the remainder of the season.
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Rivers had been relatively quiet through his first eight games with the Nuggets, but facing his former team on Wednesday night, the former Knick torched New York (37-29) with 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Following Denver’s 113-97 victory, Rivers expressed that he wasn’t very happy in his half-season in Manhattan and his overall happiness has skyrocketed in his short time with the Nuggets after sitting out for two months.
Austin Rivers, again.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) May 6, 2021
“It’s so much easier to live life happier.” pic.twitter.com/VT6G6aJDpL
Duke basketball star should see large role in postseason
The Denver Nuggets have been decimated by injuries at the guard position, and head coach Mike Malone is looking for role players to put around MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and rising star Michael Porter Jr.
Austin Rivers is averaging 7.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game this season in his time with the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets.
Denver (44-22) is four and a half games behind the Utah Jazz (48-18) for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and a half-game behind the Los Angeles Clippers (45-22) for the No. 3 seed.
The Nuggets travel to face the Jazz in a heavyweight Western Conference showdown on Friday, May 7 at 9:00pm EST.
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