Austin Rivers, Mason Plumlee in Action as NBA Regular Season Winds Down
Only two former Blue Devil players were in action on Wednesday as the regular season games in the NBA’s Orlando Bubble begin to wind down.
The Denver Nuggets lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-111. Mason Plumlee came off the bench for the Nuggets, playing 19 minutes and hitting half of his four shots to finish with four points. He also had three rebounds and three assists. With one regular season game remaining, Plumlee is averaging 7.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 2.5 apg this season. In seven Bubble games, his scoring is down to 6.7 ppg and his rebounds down to 4.6, but his assists are up to 3.9.
With 60 games played this season, Plumlee will set a low for his seven-year NBA career. His average 17.3 minutes of playing time and one start will also be career lows, although his .613 shooting accuracy will be his highest since Plumlee’s rookie year of 2014.
Denver is the three seed in the Western Conference. This will be Plumlee’s fifth trip to the playoffs and second straight year with Denver.
The Houston Rockets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 108-104. Austin Rivers came off the bench for Houston with three points in 31 minutes. He hit just 1-of-5 from three and 1-of-9 overall. Rivers also had nine rebounds. It’s Rivers’ lowest-scoring game in the Bubble and fewest points since March 2. His nine rebounds are a season high and Rivers’ most in a game since March 26, 2017.
With one regular season game left, Rivers is averaging 8.9 ppg, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists this season. Those numbers jumped to 12.6 ppg, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in Bubble games.
Houston is the five seed in the West, and Rivers will make his fifth trip to the playoffs, and his second straight year with Houston.
