Austin Rivers becomes the Knicks’ Mariano Rivera – an elite closer.
No lead is safe against these Knicks. And Rivers.
Two days after climbing 15 points to the bottom, the Knicks roared back from an 18-point hole to wipe out the Jazz, 112-100, with more late-fourth quarter magic from Rivers approaching their new standout .
Doc Rivers’ clutch boy scored 14 straight points on the piece that included four straight three-pointers and a driver with the shot clock while the Knicks moved to 5-3 after winning their fifth game in six heats. This is their best record after eight games since the magical season 2012-13.
Rivers finished with 23 points on 9 of 14 shots. Rivers have been key players in the fourth quarter of the last three games after missing the pre-season and the first five games of the season with a groin streak.
Thibdodeau said he watched Rivers grow up as an assistant coach under Doc Rivers when Austin was in high school. So this insane uproar is not shocking to Thibodeau.
“I’ll tell you one thing, there’s never a shortage of him,” Thibodeau said. “He never had confidence.”
Thibodeau recalled that Rivers would attend the Celtics practice – a club with some Hall-of-Fame guys.
“He wanted to play them one-on-one, including Kevin Garnett,” Thibodeau said. ‘Rivers wanted to play (Kevin). Austin really thought he could beat him. ‘
Julius Randle started very slowly before leading the attack and scoring another 39 minutes with the Knicks up front. Randle scored 30 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists.
The Knicks also had a great performance through starting guard Reggie Bullock, a playtime decision with a sore knee. Bullock recorded 12 points and hit 5 of 8 shots. Point guard Elfrid Payton put in the paint and added 22 points and six assistants.
A turnover-free third quarter of 34-19 brought the Knicks back from their sluggish start as they took a 78-75 lead after three quarters by chasing completely back from an 18-point hole.
To end the third quarter, the Knicks played two excellent defensive games that led to transition ties. Kevin Knox scored a rare block, leading to Payton-fast upswing to give the Knicks their first lead since early in the first quarter.
Then Rivers began his wonderful evening. He knocked off the ball from Joe Ingles of Utah and made Barrett start in the final seconds of the quarter to give the Knicks a 78-75 lead, with an 8-0 run.
Payton started the fourth quarter by tapping a three-pointer to increase the Knicks by five points and extend the run to 10-0. A Mitchell Robinson striker put the run at 12-0 and gave the Knicks an 82-75 lead that more than protected Rivers.
The Knicks trailed by 18 points in the second quarter. Randle and RJ Barrett, who are first and second in the league respectively, played within minutes, looking tired from the 3-1 away run. Utah led 56-44 at intervals and Barrett won 0 of 6 in the first half.
It was all forgotten in the end.