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24 Seconds With Austin Rivers: Getting Over Sickness

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those tied somehow to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features guard Austin Rivers.

LOS ANGELES – The Rivers are under the weather.

Head coach Doc Rivers was absent from Tuesday’s practice with an illness, just a couple days after Austin Rivers missed Sunday’s game with flu-like symptoms. It was just a bump in an otherwise sensational start to the month for Austin, who’s averaging 20.3 points per game in January.

He was back at practice Tuesday, where he discussed how he’s feeling now and the schedule finally giving the Clippers a breather.

How are you feeling now after missing last game being sick?

AR: “I feel a little better, still a little under the weather, but I feel a lot better than what I did two days ago. I came in and worked out yesterday. Good news is I was only out two days, so it wasn’t enough time to get out of rhythm or anything like that. If anything, it probably helped me just to get a little rest.”

How were you feeling when you played in Sacramento, and how much worse did it get afterward?

AR: “I was feeling a little under the weather before the game (in Sacramento), but obviously I was like, ‘I’m ready to play.’ Then, I played the game and after the game I felt a little achy but nothing really serious. It wasn’t until I got on the plane that I started to feel everything else – the head, the stomach – everything started to come together. That next day it was like, ‘Man…’ We’ve all had it before. It’s one of those things that just sucks. When you have that little bug…it is kind of like the flu, but it’s not like there’s some master pill or antibiotic you can take. You kind of just have to let it pass through. I watched a lot of TV, a lot of movies. You can quiz me on just about any movie right now.”

OK, what was the best thing you watched?

AR: “Believe it or not, I’m a nerd sometimes, I watched the whole Lord of the Rings series – all three of them. Those things are like four hours a piece.”

Did you and Doc share a water bottle or something?

AR: “No, why, is he sick, too? Oh, man. You know what, my sister is sick, too. Stay away from the Rivers family. I didn’t know he had it. I haven’t talked to him in like two or three days. I just changed my number yesterday, so I texted him and he didn’t text me back. He probably thinks it’s some random number.”

The schedule seems to be easing up a little bit at least, how nice is it to get a few days off between games?

AR: “That’s nice. Obviously we played a lot of games, maybe too many, I don’t know. It’s hard for us to say, because we love playing basketball. I don’t care how many, there could be 90 games, I would love playing that many games. But, obviously when it’s happening, seven games in 10 days, that’s when your body is like, ‘Man,’… but listen, everybody has to go through stretches like that. I’m glad we get a little bit of a break, two days in between games, that’s nice. We’ve got to take advantage of it.”