25 Austin Rivers PG

Rivers totaled just eight points, four rebounds, and one steal in 28 minutes during Saturday's 126-121 victory over Golden State.

Rivers managed just eight points in 28 minutes during Saturday's Game 3 victory but it was his defense on Steph Curry that would have pleased head coach Mike D'Antoni. He limited Curry to just 17 points on 7-of-23 shooting including 2-of-9 from beyond the perimeter. Rivers was on the floor down the stretch, supplanting Clint Capela who himself had a strong game. Curry has struggled throughout the series but could get hot at any time meaning Rivers will need to maintain his defensive focus.

Rivers (illness) confirmed Monday that he'll be available for Game 2 against the Warriors, Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston reports.

Rivers was sidelined for Game 1 with an illness, but he was back with the team Monday morning and is expected to be a full strength Tuesday night, giving the Rockets another secondary ball-handling option. Rivers' return could equate to a lesser role for Iman Shumpert, who was mostly a non-factor in Game 1.

Rivers is out of Sunday's game due to illness, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Rockets are going to lose some of their depth behind Chris Paul with the absence of Rivers, who averaged 6.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists in Round 1 against Utah. The move will force James Harden to likely take over the point guard position for more possessions than usual, although Chris Chiozza is also available off the bench if Mike D'Antoni elects to take that route.

Rivers finished with 15 points (6-10 FG, 3-7 3Pt, 0-1 FT), three assists, one rebound, one steal and one block across 29 minutes in the Rockets' win over the Nuggets on Thursday.

Rivers had an efficient shooting night, going 60.0 percent from the floor and knocking down a trio of threes en route to scoring 15 points. It was just his second double-digit scoring effort in his last 12 games, and Rivers can't be considered much more than a cheap, matchup-based daily flyer.

Rivers totaled five points (2-6 FG, 1-2 3Pt), two rebounds, and one steal in 20 minutes during Tuesday's 108-94 loss to the Bucks.

Rivers was quiet, scoring in single digits for the ninth straight tilt. Moreover, with James Harden and Chris Paul creating the vast majority of looks for the team offensively, Rivers isn't contributing in the assist column much either. As a result, he's currently only worthy of consideration in very deep leagues.