Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a 120-115 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
However, it was Austin Rivers who stole the show with 16 fourth quarter points.
The Nuggets are +3.5 betting underdogs in Game 4 which is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Nikola Jokic showed why he should be the MVP once again on Friday night. The Joker scored 36 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and issued 5 assists as the Denver Nuggets reclaimed home advantage by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 120-115 in Game 3 of their first round series.
Jokic made half of his 24 shots including 4-7 from deep and 8-8 from the foul line as Denver kept its poise down the stretch to pull off the hard-earned road victory in Portland.
The Austin Rivers Game
As several fans on Twitter coined it, Game 3 on Saturday night was “the Austin Rivers game,” for Denver.
“He made clutch threes.” – Blazers coach Terry Stotts //t.co/DYtZjeZyUC
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) May 28, 2021
But while Jokic led Denver once again, it was newcomer Austin Rivers who stole the show in the fourth quarter and became the playoff hereo for the Nuggets. The 28-year old guard scored 16 points in the final frame, including back to back triples with about four minutes left in the game to give the Nuggets enough separation against the stubborn Blazers.
Rivers would finish the game with 21 points on 7-14 shooting, including 5-10 from three-point distance to go along with four rebounds, two assists, and one blocked shot. He played in a total of 37 minutes, the most by any Nugget, yet did not commit a single turnover in the game.
The Blazers had forced a 91-all tie with 5:55 to go in the game and everybody was expecting to see Dame Time take over. However, it was Rivers who showed up big, hitting four three-pointers in the final six minutes of the game to flip the script.
Incredible Turnaround
The Nuggets guard depth:
Facundo Campazzo
Austin Rivers
Shaquille Harrison
Markus Howard
Monte Morris
They are up 2-1 vs a team led by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. pic.twitter.com/TJgQeykL8I
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 28, 2021
It has been an incredible turnaround for Rivers who was without a team for 2.5 months before the Nuggets signed him to a 10-day deal in April. With Jamal Murray gone for the season, it was moot and academic that they signed Rivers for the remainder of the season.
Back then, it was probably just adding more depth to an unproven guard rotation as they prepared for the playoffs. Now the Denver backcourt led by Facu Campazzo and Austin Rivers have a 2-1 lead against Portland’s All-Star backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
This patchwork nature of the Nuggets’ backcourt is just an example of the next man up culture that coach Michael Malone has instilled in his young team. Aside from Rivers, 30-year old rookie Campazzo plus two way players Shaquille Harrison and Markus Howard have stepped up in Murray’s absence. Not to mention Michael Porter Jr. who has absorbed Murray’s scoring load.
Game 4 Back at Moda Center
Game 4 back here Saturday afternoon.#RipCity pic.twitter.com/SX1MfIEaPZ
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 28, 2021
Game 4 of the series will be on Saturday afternoon at the Moda Center as the Blazers will look to equalize. Online sportsbook Bet365 was one of the first NBA betting sites to put up the odds for the game and they opened their betting lines with the Nuggets as +3.5 underdogs against the hometown team.
However, Denver has been a solid road team this season, with a 22-14 mark away from the Pepsi Center. Meanwhile, the Blazers are just 20-16 at home this campaign. If Austin Rivers continues to step up and Nikola Jokic gets his usual numbers, then Denver will be hard to beat.
It’s too early to count the Blazers out because they are a veteran team with lots of playoff experience under their belt. But remember that the Nuggets have retaken home court advantage and teams that have won Game 3 in a best of seven affair have gone on to win the series. We’ll see if that holds here.
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