Austin Rivers becomes the Mariano Rivera of Knicks – an elite closer.
No lead is safe from these Knicks. And rivers.
Two days after rallying 15 points lower, the Knicks roared back from an 18-point hole to wipe out the Jazz, 112-100, with more magic from Rivers’s late fourth quarter, their new standout closer.
Doc Rivers’ clutch son scored 14 straight points along the trajectory, including four straight 3-pointers and a float, with the shot clock stopping as the Knicks advanced to 5-3 after winning their fifth game in six games. It is their best record after eight games since the magical 2012-13 season.
Rivers finished with 23 points on 9 of 14 shots. Rivers was key in the fourth quarter of the last three games after missing all preseason and the first five games of the season with a groin spasm.
Thibdodeau said he watched Rivers grow up as an assistant coach under Doc Rivers when Austin was in high school. So this insane attack is not shocking to Thibodeau.
“I’ll tell you one thing, he was never lacking,” said Thibodeau. “He never lacked confidence.”
Thibodeau recalled that Rivers would attend Celtics practice – a club with a few Hall-of-Fame guys.
“He wanted to play them one-on-one, including Kevin Garnett,” said Thibodeau. Rivers wanted to play (Kevin). Austin really thought he could beat him. ”
Julius Randle got off to a very slow start before leading the attack, scoring 39 minutes more while the Knicks were decimated up front. Randle registered 30 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists.
The Knicks also got a great performance from starting shooting guard Reggie Bullock, an in-game decision with a sore knee. Bullock registered 12 points and hit 5 of the 8 shots. Point guard Elfrid Payton stepped into the paint and added 22 points and six assists.
A 34-19, sales-free third quarter brought the Knicks back from their lethargic start when they took a 78-75 lead after three quarters in a rally from an 18-point hole.
To close the third quarter, the Knicks made two defensive moves from sterling that led to transition hoops. Kevin Knox registered a rare block, which led to a quick lay-up from Payton to give the Knicks their first lead since the start of the first quarter.
Then Rivers began his great night. He hit the ball away from Utah’s Joe Ingles, causing Barrett to jump for an escape dunk in the closing seconds of the quarter to give the Knicks a 78-75 lead after three seconds, capping an 8-0 run.
Payton started the fourth quarter by deflating a 3-pointer to bring up the Knicks by five points and expand the series to 10-0. A Mitchell Robinson dunk made it 12-0 and gave the Knicks an 82-75 lead that more than protected Rivers.
The Knicks were 18 points behind in the second quarter. Randle and RJ Barrett, who are respectively first and second in the league, played in minutes, looked tired after the 3-1 road trip. Utah led 56-44 through the break and Barrett went 0 of 6 in the first half.
In the end it was all forgotten.