Austin Rivers to El Comercio: “Morris, Campazzo, Gordon; we must all be ready to make triples “

Austin Rivers he was the best player of Denver Nuggets in victory against OKC Sunday night, January 9. The forward scored 22 points, with a 6-9 shooting from three points and five consecutive units over the last two minutes of the game that sealed the score at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma. After that, El Comercio spoke with Rivers about their confidence and the importance of teamwork in the team technically led by the coach Michael Malone.

Nikola Jokic contributed 22 points and 16 rebounds to help the Nuggets to defeat 99-95 at Thunder. In addition, Austin Rivers contributed 22 units, his best record of the season, and Jeff Green 16. The team of Michael Malone exacted revenge for a Dec. 22 108-94 loss in Oklahoma City.

For his part, Lu Dort scored 14 points for the Thunder, they have lost four consecutive games.

Denver escaped with a 22-4 start in the first six minutes. The Nuggets they were 52% effective in the first half to take the lead 61-49 at halftime. Rivers contributed 14 points in the first two quarters.

But nevertheless, OKC he spent much of the third period cutting the deficit and finally took a 75-74 lead on a triple by Josh Giddey with nearly two minutes left in the period. Denver He led the fourth quarter with an 80-78 lead.

The rookie of Oklahoma City Tre Mann stole a ball from Jokic, which led to the opposite basket and assisted Aaron Wiggins, who with a one-handed dunk put the Thunder 93-88 with 4:26 to play.

Rivers he hit a 3-pointer and an acrobatic layup in straight possessions to give Denver a 95-93 lead. With Oklahoma City down 97-95 and with the possibility of a somersault in the final minute, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl missed a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left. Will Barton of the Nuggets, made two free throws with 12.6 seconds to seal the game.

At the post-match conference, I spoke with Austin Rivers. I consulted him the following: “We see you with great confidence, what happened to make you play at a high level, especially on the three-point line?”

The forward replied as follows: “I have been shooting much better in the past, except for the last games when I had a lot of pain in my hands. Before that, I was playing well. After a very slow start to the season, for me, it’s about staying healthy. For the first time this season I feel totally fine and that has led me to spend more time in the gym, on the court, in training sessions, I have worked a lot on my game ”.

Then he limited: “In this team you have to be prepared, especially when your two best players create spaces. A lot of times you see Barton or whoever miss two or three shots and then they come back and score the next three or four. Monte Morris, Facundo Campazzo, Aaron Gordon or whoever, we all have to be ready to shoot 3s and make them. We must all maintain confidence in the team and in what each one can contribute ”.

Denver Nuggets will face the Los Angeles Clippers on December 11, while Oklahoma City Thunder he will do the same against the Washington Wizards on the same day.