Austin Rivers, Nikola Jokić shoot Nuggets past Blazers in Game 3
The Denver Nuggets might have the probable MVP on their roster, but they are proving to be much more than that.
Star Nikola Jokić scored 36 points in Denver's victory over Portland on Thursday night, but he got a ton of help from his teammates as eight others scored – including four in double figures – as the Nuggets won 120-115 to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.
Every Denver starter scored in double figures, including 21 from Austin Rivers, helping the Nuggets regain homecourt advantage in the series.
Portland star Damian Lillard led all scorers with 37 points, but he made just five of his 16 3-point attempts.
Let's take a look at how the Nuggets earned the victory.
Key performer: Austin Rivers
Jokić is Denver's star and the likely MVP of the NBA. Almost everything the Nuggets do on offense depends on the scoring and passing ability of their center.
But while that is true, it's hard to imagine the Nuggets winning Thursday night's game without the play of Rivers, who made five of his 10 3-point attempts and chipped in four rebounds, two assists and a block for good measure.
He was particularly strong in the fourth quarter when he made four of his five 3-pointers and scored 16 of his 21 points.
It has been quite a journey for Rivers, who signed a multi-year contract with the Houston Rockets in November. He was traded to the New York Knicks only a couple of days after signing that deal, then was dealt to Oklahoma City on March 25. The Thunder waived Rivers three days later, and he remained unemployed before the Nuggets signed him in late April.
Before Thursday's game, Nuggets coach Mike Malone said of Rivers: "I think it’s just surprising that he was sitting at home as long as he was, but thank God for us that he was available."
So true.
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Turning point: Rivers' fourth-quarter shooting
The Blazers had pulled into a 91-91 tie on a 3-pointer by Carmelo Anthony and there were less than seven minutes remaining. That's when Rivers went to work. The 28-year-old shooting guard drilled a 3-pointer to put Denver back on top at 94-91, but he was just getting started.
Another 3 by Rivers extended the Nuggets' lead to 99-94 with 4:31 to go. Then, after Anthony missed a 3-pointer, Rivers connected again from long range to expand his team's cushion to eight points at 102-94. That's three Rivers 3-pointers in a three-minute stretch that turned a 91-all tie into an eight-point edge.
A fourth Rivers 3-pointer with 1:24 to go again put Denver up eight at 111-103, and they hung on from there.
Wild card: Nuggets' 3-point shooting
With Lillard and CJ McCollum and a host of players who can drill it from deep, the Blazers are known as a 3-point shooting team. But it was Denver that dominated from long range on Thursday night.
The Nuggets made 20 of their 38 3-point attempts for a scorching 52.6% success rate. Rivers led the way with his 5-for-10 effort, but he was hardly alone. Jokić was 4-for-7 from 3-point range, while Michael Porter Jr. was 3-for-5, Facundo Campazzo was 2-for-6, and Jamychal Green was 2-for-3.
The Blazers, meanwhile, were just 14-for-45 (31.1%) from 3-point range.
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Twitter's take:
Did you know?
This is the first time the Nuggets have held a 2-1 lead in a playoff series since 2009. They have failed to take either a 2-1 or 3-0 lead after three games in each of their 10 playoff series since the 2009 West semifinals.
What's next:
The Nuggets will try to take a 3-1 series edge when they take on the Trail Blazers again in Portland in Game 4 at 4 p.m. ET Saturday on TNT.
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