DENVER — Dereck Lively II never had set foot in Texas until he became a Maverick, so please pardon the 19-year-old Philadelphia native for his Lone Star State naiveté.
Lively sheepishly admits that when a reporter on draft night asked him to name his favorite kind of barbecue, he answered “steak.”
Late Wednesday night, after the Mavericks became one of two NBA teams to start this season 4-0, mere minutes before the Rangers clinched the World Series, Lively seemed unsurprised by either development.
“I feel like there’s a lot of magic when it comes to Texas,” he said.
In time young Lively will learn that the Rangers have one World Series title in 51 years; the Mavs have one championship in 44 seasons; the Stars one in 30; the Cowboys five in 64, but none since 1995; and that mesquite-smoked brisket is Texas’ best barbecue.
A young man with Lively’s precocity, though, can’t be blamed for thinking big, especially since his impact is a major reason Dallas arguably has been the NBA’s most pleasant surprise entering Friday night’s showdown at reigning champion Denver (4-1).
It’s compelling enough that this will be a litmus test for the Mavericks as a team and for Lively during moments he’s matched against two-time MVP and five-time All-Star Nikola Jokic; it’s also both teams’ opener of the NBA’s new in-season tournament.
“It’s game-by-game, play-by-play,” Lively said. “Being able to know we have another kind of tournament to step into just makes it more reason to try to be focused throughout these games.”
The Mavericks and Nuggets are part of the tournament’s Group B, along with the Clippers, New Orleans and Houston.
Between Friday and Nov. 28, teams will play two games apiece against other teams in their group. The winners of the six groups, plus two wild card teams, advance to the Dec. 4-5 single-elimination knockout rounds. The Dec. 7 semifinals and Dec. 9 championship will be played in Las Vegas.
The format might somewhat remind Lively of the ACC and NCAA tournaments during his lone season at Duke, but, statistically, he’s already surpassing his modest college averages of 5.4 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Albeit four games into his NBA career Lively is averaging 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and, perhaps most impressive of all, he leads all Mavericks in plus-minus at plus-34.
He contributed seven points, 13 rebounds and six assists to Wednesday night’s home victory over Chicago, but his impact is better illustrated by delving into those numbers and by individual plays he made in key moments.
Lively already had impressed with his sixth sense for rebounding, his advanced footwork and high-IQ ability to learn Dallas’ schemes, but against the Bulls he showed that he’s a deft and intuitive passer.
Five of his assists went for 3-pointers, meaning that his six assists resulted in 17 points. Of his rebounds, seven were offensive, including several in which he seemed to flash in from nowhere to keep alive possessions — reminiscent of Tyson Chandler during his Dallas stints of 2010-11 and 2014-15.
Those five assists that went for 3-pointers? Three of them came after a Lively offensive rebound. Dallas’ 13 offensive rebounds led to 24 second-chance points. The Mavericks’ average of 16.5 second-chance points per game this season ranks sixth in the NBA after Dallas finished 29th in that category (10.9 per game) last season.
All of those Lively hustle plays helped Dallas’ cause, but none more so than with 7:15 left in the game, when Seth Curry missed a 3-pointer and Lively tipped the rebound away from the Bulls’ Patrick Williams.
It looked like the ball would land out of bounds, but Lively jumped over the end-line, caught the ball and while still in midair turned and threw a perfect pass to Hardaway at the 3-point line. Hardaway made the shot, got fouled, and his four-point play turned a two-point deficit to a two-point lead.
“I don’t know how he got that one, and then to throw it to Timmy,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “That was a big-time play.
“He did that a lot tonight.”
After playing 30 minutes in the season opener at San Antonio and at times outplaying more heralded fellow rookie Victor Wembanyama, Lively against Brooklyn and Memphis played only 16 and 13 minutes. Dallas had to go to smaller lineups against the Nets, and Lively was plagued by five fouls against the Grizzlies.
Against Chicago, Lively not only played 33 minutes but played every second of the fourth quarter, another step forward in his rapid development.
“I think he’s been a phenomenal rookie for us so far,” Mavericks forward Grant Williams said. “And I keep saying, in order for us to be the team that we want to be, he can’t just be a rookie; he has to be a vet.
“And I’ll let you know when that day happens.”
Friday night in mile-high altitude, against the reigning champion Nuggets and Jokic, will offer the biggest challenge yet for the fast-learning 19-year-old.
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