Austin Rivers’ timely pre-Christmas signing will have him locked for playing time right away in light of Chris Paul’s recent Grade 2 hamstring strain, which figures to sideline him for “a while.” The 26-year-old guard doesn’t think the adjustment period will be long, fitting right into the Houston Rockets’ offensively philosophy of “threes and layups.”
“That’s all I want to do in terms of offensively,” Rivers said, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “I shot two mid-range jump shots this season. My old teammates in D.C. would give me crap about that. It’s not that I refuse; I just don’t shoot them. That was the first thing they told me. ‘We want to shoot 3s and layups.’ You’ll get no arguments out of me.”
Unlike a perennial mid-range shooter like Carmelo Anthony, Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni won’t need any arm-twisting for Rivers, who has naturally adapted to the NBA’s new norm of efficiency — prioritizing long-range shots and easy looks at the rim, along with drawing fouls.
Rivers is only a career 64.4 free-throw shooter and figures much better as a deep threat (35.2 percent during career), despite his struggles this season, as he is shooting only 39.2 percent from the floor, 31.1 percent from deep and a 54.3 percent clip from the foul line; a career-low.
Houston is hoping the flow of the offense helps Rivers find his rhythm and can be a helpful cog in the midst of Paul’s absence. James Harden endorsed Rivers’ signing, claiming he will have “more than enough opportunities” to prove his worth.
The post Austin Rivers sees no issues fitting into Houston Rockets’ 3s and layups offense appeared first on ClutchPoints.
