Inside Austin Rivers’ career performance in Rockets’ win over Kings

© Ashley Landis/Associated Press

Houston Rockets’ Austin Rivers (25), center, puts up a shot past Sacramento Kings’ De’Aaron Fox (5) and Nemanja Bjelica (88), left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Rockets won 129-112. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)

Austin Rivers scored from the rim to the 3-point line. He scored off cuts and off the dribble, off the break and in the halfcourt. He kept scoring until he put up more points, 41, than he ever had in an NBA game, 17 more than in any game this season, more than the Kings could handle.

He scored his way through a stunning offensive display.

It was not, however, surprising, not to him.

“I believe I’m a premier scorer,” Rivers said. “But I play with the best scorer in the NBA. I play with one of the best scorers in the NBA. With Russell (Westbrook) and James (Harden), you got to play a role. That’s what I do. But make no mistake; I know I can score the ball.”

Rivers’ role, at least when the Rockets are at full strength, is to provide instant offense and ball pressure off the bench. But he plays the Rockets’ deepest position, with Eric Gordon expected back this week and Ben McLemore hot-shooting his way around the NBA bubble.

Rivers is more of a finisher, a hard right to go with all the body blows of 3-pointers. That means he has to accept and embrace a role that limits his chances to do what he does best. While others can have their shots delivered to them, Rivers is best off the dribble. But with the Rockets, Harden and Westbrook get those touches.

With Westbrook and Gordon out and the Rockets in an early funk, Rivers had his chance to take over. More than a chance, there was a need. He never doubted that he could.

“I always try to stay confident,” Rivers said. “It’s not easy. You play with two of the best guards in the NBA. Obviously, they have the ball in their hands a lot. You play your role. That’s what I do, be aggressive, be competitive. But I’m always confident in myself. I know the abilities that I have. I believe I can score with the best of them.

“James has been pushing me to do that. Coach pushes me to do that. They believe in me. I just try to stay aggressive. Tonight, was a steppingstone for me, I think. I know it’s a good steppingstone for me to continue to do so.”

Rivers returned to the game with 6:23 left, needing two point to get his career high. With teammates pushing him to fire away, as Harden and Westbrook had sought to get him to take over much earlier, Rivers missed a pair of 3s, before choosing instead to go to the rim. He drew a foul and made a pair of free throws before he finished a drive to finish his 41-point night.

“Once I came back in with six minutes, I was going to get it,” Rivers said. “I wasn’t going to just jack anything.”

Thinking about it, he admitted, “I jacked a couple shots. This is why it’s fun to play on this team. Guys were encouraging it. They were giving me the ball. I wasn’t just chasing it. The whole game was natural.

“I always feel (unstoppable.) I know it sounds funny, but it’s the way you have to feel, whether you are 0 for 6 or six for six, eight for eight. I don’t think you get to this level thinking someone can guard you individually. I’m obviously a one-on-one player and I’m quick. I always think I have a chance to score on anybody.

“Whether people see that or not, that’s on them. I know Russ and James and Mike and Eric they believe in me. That even makes me more confident. You got a guy like James Harden telling you to go, Russ Westbrook telling you to go, that’s coming from two of the best players in the NBA. I don’t know what else you need.”

When he was through, he had the first 40-point game off the Rockets bench since 1991 when his father was in his final season with the Hawks, one year and three NBA stops before Austin Rivers was born.

“It’s always nice to be able to achieve something like that,” Rivers said. “That’s usually where James comes in. It’s nice to be able to be able to do something like that.

“When you do it on one of the best teams in the NBA, a team fighting for a championship and everybody’s playing the right way, that’s the best way to do it. It was fun. A fun night.”