DALLAS – Midway through the second quarter of the Mavericks’ momentous 122-84 victory in Game 4 of these NBA Finals, Luka Dončić got past Xavier Tillman Sr., lured Jayson Tatum into the paint and found Dereck Lively II alone in the right corner. The Mavericks badly need someone, anyone, other than Dončić or Kyrie Irving to connect from beyond the arc. Outside of Dallas’ All-Star playmaking duo, the Mavericks entered Friday night’s contest just 9 of 36 from 3-point range. Subtract PJ Washington’s 4-of-14 series effort, and no other Maverick outside of Josh Green converted more than two triples against Boston.
Lively hadn’t attempted a deep pass in the entire postseason. He hadn’t attempted a deep pass since November 14th. He attempted just 13 in 34 games at Duke. Still, the 7-foot freshman big man dove Dončić’s pass below his knees, stood up and fired a beautiful moon shot that went through nothing but the net. It was the first 3-pointer of the 20-year-old’s professional career – now the youngest player to make a triple in Finals history.
“He’s 50% into the season,” Dončić surmised. “So he might as well keep shooting. He’s 1 in 2, right? In fact, Lively is now one of three who are dating at the start of this campaign. “Okay,” Dončić smiled, after a reporter’s correction. “One for 1. He’s 100% in the playoffs.”
He’s been one of Dallas’ standout performers throughout the postseason, blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and passing out of the pocket like no other big man in the Mavericks’ frontcourt can. After Lively ran across the floor of the American Airlines Center with a trio of fingers pointing toward the noisy arena, he contested a layup from Tillman and then ran back down the court to connect with a lob from Irving. His seven offensive rebounds on Friday were the most the Celtics have surrendered to a single player during the playoffs. Her final tally of 11 points and 12 rebounds gave Lively her second consecutive double-double in this series, becoming the first rookie player to achieve that feat since Magic Johnson in 1980. “[To] call him my teammate,” Dončić said, “it’s unbelievable.”
It took a while for Dallas to add Lively to this list. The Mavericks bypassed the playoffs a year ago with the clear intention of keeping a protected top-10 pick that Dallas had sent in a previous trade. Throughout the pre-draft process, rival teams were well aware of the Mavericks’ specific interest in targeting Lively late in the 2023 lottery. And when Dallas never found common ground with Atlanta, according to league sources , in a potential structure that could have brought Hawks center Clint Capela back to Texas, the Mavericks still managed to trade two spots with Oklahoma City, losing $17 million from Davis Bertāns. salary in the process, and secured Lively anyway as the 12th overall pick.
Still, not even Lively’s biggest supporters in the Dallas front office could have predicted how impressive this young man would be when he entered the Mavericks’ facility. He speaks with the poise and soul of someone much older and smarter, a perspective that Lively said she honed by watching her late mother, Kathy Drysdale, deal with her fight against the cancer that took her from her son in April. When his three-pointer skied toward the rafters tonight, he felt an angel guiding the ball around the rim. “She helped me do that. It will help me earn a lot more,” Lively said. “She helped me make the free throw. She helped me do readings.
It was Lively who Dallas coach Jason Kidd and Irving credited as the motivational presence within the Mavericks’ huddle before Wednesday’s fourth quarter that prevented a 20-2 run and got Dallas back to Game 3.” That was special,” Irving said. “These are moments you remember forever and carry on as a team that can help you in the future.”
The impact of that fourth-quarter outburst came from a lineup featuring Dončić, Irving and Lively, as well as Washington and backup swingman Josh Green. The Mavs relied on a similar group of five players in Game 4, with Maxi Kleber filling in for Washington. Through nine minutes together, this combination posted an impressive net rating of plus-50 points per 100 possessions, thanks to an offensive efficiency of 135 and a defensive mark of 85. “It was a transition,” Kidd said. “Energy and pace on both sides. Defensively we got stops.” This group could change the entire perimeter screen action for Boston. Green adds another dimension alongside Lively of youth, athleticism and agility that the Mavericks need in every way to combat the Celtics’ long and skilled rotation.
Dallas’ lead ballooned to 40 to 48, and both teams emptied their benches throughout the fourth quarter. Once again, on the sideline, Lively’s voice stood out among a boisterous crowd of 20,227. A fellow Mavericks rookie, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, saw his first minutes since Dallas’ Game 1 loss to the Clippers in the first round — on April 21 — and needed advice, landing so suddenly on the Finals stage, even with this Game 4 already decided. “I was telling him to slow down, just enjoy it, feel his way through this game,” Lively said. “Don’t rush anything, just feel the game, find little holes and take it all in.”
This strange wisdom from Lively is what makes Mavericks folks more optimistic about their ability to maximize every ounce of their potential, however long the team can extend this series and beyond. “We’re not just focused on this year,” Irving said. “We have a future together where we will continue to grow as teammates.” It’s the makeup of Lively, after all he’s endured, that projects many more 3-pointers in his future, that envisions an anchor on Dallas’ defense for the next decade. Mavericks coaches expect him to regularly stretch opposing defenses with his swing as early as next season. They believe he will be able to lift the ball from time to time. That he will transform into one of the game’s biggest giants, stalking the paint on both sides of the court.
“Everything that doesn’t kill you actually makes you stronger,” Lively said. “No matter how many times you get hit, knocked down, get up, get up stronger than you got knocked down.”
