Austin Rivers Giving LA Clippers' Bench Hope Amid the Headaches

If you watched only Sunday's Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, you might have no idea that the Los Angeles Clippers' bench was the weak point of the team.

The second unit has been a problem all season. The depth, the production, the competence: None of it has been present in Los Angeles. But when the Clips evened their first-round series with the Spurs on Sunday, they gave their fans—and the organization—a tiny speckle of hope.

Glen "Big Baby" Davis provided energy in his 19 minutes, even if his line didn't show much. Jamal Crawford did Jamal Crawford things, making crazy shots he wasn't supposed to make and taking crazy shots he wasn't supposed to take.

Then, there was Austin Rivers, who played so well so out of nowhere that in 40 years I'll probably be sitting in a rocking chair, telling my grandkids about "The Austin Rivers Game."

Of course, the Spurs bench has helped make the Clippers one look good. Boris Diaw can't make a jumper. Manu Ginobili is off rhythm. Aron Baynes can't stop getting dunked on. San Antonio has only seen real reserve production from Patty Mills and—at times—Marco Belinelli.

Coach/dad Doc Rivers could presumably lessen the negative effects of his bench, but he hasn't shown a consistent desire to stagger his lineups, ensuring either Griffin or Paul would stay in the game at all times. Instead, we've seen four-reserve units scattered around this series, and it hasn't always worked—until Sunday, of course.

The Clips got wrecked by 27 points in Game 3 and didn't look like they had a shot against San Antonio anymore. The Spurs had made their Popovichian adjustments, and the series was now out of everyone else's hands—except for those of the younger Rivers.

Mini-Rivers proceeded to drop 16 points in 17 minutes during the Clippers' Game 4 victory, shooting 7-of-8 from the field in the process.

Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images

Austin Rivers couldn't miss. Austin Rivers couldn't miss. Austin Rivers couldn't miss. Austin Rivers cou...

Sorry, that broke my keyboard. Austin Rivers: the ultimate first-name, last-name guy; dominator of the Spurs; champion of our hearts. 

This wasn't supposed to happen. Rivers wasn't supposed to make an impact, even if his father would tell you otherwise—and before Game 4, one Rivers inspired another.

“My dad said before the game, ‘If you’re not making shots, what else are you going to do for us?’” Austin Rivers said after Game 4, according to ESPN.com's Arash Markazi. “That was my mindset. I’m going to play hard even if I’m not making shots and help my team. I’m going to keep looking to score and having fun.”

Have fun, he did—out of nowhere.

Rivers has taken so many hits from the fans, the media and everyone else that he may be better equipped to take a beating than Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. But he has shown that he can get hot for games. He did go for 28 against the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 21. He also shot 9-of-10 from the field against the New York Knicks on March 25.

But those are two of the worst defenses in the league, and we're talking about only two scoring outbursts buried beneath unacceptable outings.

Scoring isn't exactly the best way to evaluate a player. Obviously, there are other facets of basketball—from defense to facilitating to communicating to anything else. But aside from stringing together some solid defensive stretches, the Clippers' supposed seventh man has looked more like one of the sins than one of the heavens.

Rivers was bad enough that his play single-handedly turned Blake Griffin, a 26-year-old man with better things to do, into a cyberbully. For those of us not as social-media savvy as the rest of the world, this is apparently the stuff that goes on when you sign up for Instagram:

We realize how mean that is, right? Apparently, one of the best players making fun of one of the worst in front of an Internet-wide audience is perfectly acceptable, as long as it's funny. But, man, it's really funny.

My ClipperBlog colleague, Patrick James, mentioned something about Griffin's impression that couldn't have been more true: The funniest part of the video is when Blake waves off the imaginary screener as if to say in the most Jordanian tone possible, "Get away. I'm doing this on my own!"

And that's what Rivers does—all the time. He's more isolated than the bubble boy. But it didn't happen in "The Austin Rivers Game."

Either the Clippers or Rivers adjusted. Los Angeles still used Rivers as the naturally ball-dominant guard. He's never changing from that—at least not in this series. But instead of aimlessly dribbling around and turning the ball over or putting up bad shots or generally making poor decisions, he used screens and took advantage of the Spurs misplaying them.

Of Rivers' eight field-goal attempts (he made his final seven shots after missing his first, by the by), only two came in isolation, and one of those times was when he was trying to get a quick shot. He showed change in the second half, when he aggressively barreled to the hoop, charged in transition and used different kinds of screens to find space.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Naturally, San Antonio shades under picks against him, the clear and only strategy against someone who shot under 30 percent from three-point range this year. And once Rivers made a couple of jumpers early, he was able to get going.

It has to be easier said than done, but that could be the key for Rivers. Make a few early jump shots, get Mills or Tony Parker a little anxious as they defend ball screens and then take advantage of a slower Tim Duncan or Diaw as he zones up the pick-and-roll.

That's how Rivers got a foot-on-the-line, would-be-a-three-but-was-actually-a-two shot at the end of the third. It's how he converted an and-1 at the beginning of the fourth.

NBA.com

It's not a bold statement to say Rivers won't shoot 7-of-8 in another playoff game. Some of those points were purely because he was jalapeno-level hot. But some of these principles are sustainable. If Rivers isn't going to facilitate, maybe he can feel more comfortable forcing switches and working on mismatches. And maybe he can provide some clout for short stretches when Paul and Griffin are out of the game.

The Clippers' bench is never going to dominate (aside from the inevitable Hedo Turkoglu 12-point second half in Game 6, obviously). But what it can do, with a little luck and a lot of change, is sustain. Using those screens and switches effectively is an encouraging start.

Follow Fred Katz on Twitter at @FredKatz.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of April 28 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.