Looking to build on a promising rookie campaign, in which Dereck Lively II averaged 8.8 points and 6.9 rebounds for a Dallas Mavericks squad that reached the NBA Finals, the 2022-23 Duke basketball center has been consistently efficient and productive in preseason play thus far.
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On Monday night, the 20-year-old Lively, who came off the board No. 12 overall at the 2023 NBA Draft following his one-and-done season under then-first-year head coach Jon Scheyer in Durham, posted eight points, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, and two blocks in the Mavericks’ 110-96 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The 7-foot-1, 230-pounder shot 2-for-4 from the field and 4-for-6 at the charity stripe.
And Lively provided the finishing touch to the following highlight score, exhibiting impressive awareness and confidence in rising up to complete the alley-oop flush in traffic and putting Clippers big man Ivica Zubac on a poster in the process:
Hardy throws it up and DLive THROWS IT DOWN over Zu!! pic.twitter.com/FhoSs1smM8
— MavsHighlights (@MavsHighlights) October 15, 2024
Dallas is 0-3 in the preseason. But the Mavericks have been without the services of their two backcourt centerpieces in Luka Doncic (left calf contusion) and 2010-11 Duke basketball one-and-done Kyrie Irving (rest) except for Irving’s 17 minutes of action in their preseason opener.
Their next preseason outing is in Dallas against the Milwaukee Bucks, including former Blue Devil guard Gary Trent Jr., at 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday (TNT).
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