5 reasons Denver Nuggets can still win 2021 NBA championship
By Kristen Wong
4. Austin Rivers will help out an injured backcourt
Following the injuries of Jamal Murray, Will Barton, and Monte Morris, Denver hoped Austin Rivers would pick up some sharpshooting responsibilities. Since joining the Nuggets, Rivers has been mostly streaky, averaging 7.9 points and 2.2 assists per game and shooting 42.8 percent from the field, but he’s shown in the past that he has the potential to go nuclear.
In his last stretch with the New York Knicks, Rivers proved he had the shooting chops and steel nerves to sink 14 straight points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Utah Jazz. His clutch shooting percentage is a whopping 66.7 percent!
While not exactly the playmaking type, Rivers doesn’t have to be. Denver already has the passing genius of Jokic and more so needs a combo guard that Rivers willingly fits into. Though he didn’t quite mesh well with Tom Thibodeau’s formation in New York, he’s adjusting as well as he can in Denver and can turn into a reliable playoff asset for the injury-plagued Nuggets roster.