Lively suffers neck sprain during win over Timberwolves

As Dallas Mavericks backup center Dereck Lively II laid on the court for about five minutes Sunday night, the American Airlines Center crowd was obviously concerned about the health of the rookie from Duke.

And when the video was played on the Jumbotron showing Lively’s head awkwardly making contact with the right knee of Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns as Lively was falling to the floor, a loud gasp could be heard throughout the arena. The concern level was even higher when forward Markieff Morris had to help Lively to the locker room.

All of this occurred with 8:35 left in the first half, and with the Mavs leading 43-33 of a game they eventually won, 116-107. But Lively’s injury – he was diagnosed with a neck sprain and did not return to the game – put a damper on a night when the Mavs took a commanding 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

“It was announced that it was a neck sprain,” coach Jason Kidd said, “so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Daniel Gafford starts at center for the Mavs and is backed up by Lively. The two players have developed a solid tag-team bond in the middle that has been key to the Mavs getting within one win of reaching the NBA Finals for the third time in franchise history.

In fact, Lively is the yang to Gafford’s ying.

“We tell each other all the time — especially when we’re subbing in for each other — I tell him to go be a monster and he tells me to go do the same thing,” Gafford said. “Before he walked off the court he said exactly that.

“I do what the big fella say just like he does the same for me.”

With Gafford and Lively constantly subbing in and out of the lineup for each other, it’s as if the Mavs don’t miss a beat with the contributions they receive from these two players. But that all changed Sunday.

“It was tough just to see him go down the way he did, because it sucks getting hit in the back of the head,” Gafford said. “It sucks just getting hit to where your neck hurts. That’s a dangerous spot to be getting hit.

“Seeing him walk off, I was, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be a battle, because as physical as they were with us, we were physical back.’ We had to make sure we took that next step up physically and have some type of boost when it came to the energy, and that’s something I feel like we did tonight.”

The Mavs often refer to it as the next man mentality. In this case, the next man was Dwight Powell, who started all five games for the Mavs when they faced the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 Western Conference Finals. Powell played eight minutes and collected two points, two rebounds and a steal.

“Injuries are part of the game, and I thought DP did a great job,” Kidd said. “Understanding, we went small there for a little bit, but I thought DP came in and hadn’t played in a while.

“He knocked down (two) free throws, was aggressive on the defensive end, had a good look on the offensive end – it didn’t go down for him. But if Lively is out, DP is going to be ready to play and we trust him.”

It’s too early for the Mavs to know if Lively will be ready to play when the Mavs try to close out this series when they host Game 4, which tips off Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. No team has ever rallied and won a best-of-seven series in the history of the NBA after falling in an 0-3 hole.

Gafford, meanwhile, hopes Lively will ready when Tuesday’s game tips off.

“I tried to go talk to him,” Lively said, referring to after the game ended. “I think he was gone before we even got in the back, so I couldn’t even get a chance to talk to him.”

If Lively can’t [play Tuesday, guard Luka Doncic said: “We have to have the next man up mentality, obviously. (Lively is) an amazing player. He’s helped us so much in these playoffs and in the regular season.

“Obviously, we’re going to miss him if he can’t play (in Game 4).”

In the meantime, the Mavs already know what their state of mind will be entering Tuesday’s contest.

“The mentality is just do whatever it takes to put (the Timberwolves) away,” Gafford said. “We got one man down (and) we got to make sure we fill that gap and fight for him.”

BRIEFLY:  On being up, 3-0, in this best-of-seven series against the Timberwolves, Gafford said: “It feels good, but we got to keep it that way, so we really can’t get too excited. They’re going to come in (Tuesday during Game 4) desperate, and they’re going to come in and try to throw the first punch this next game. So, we got to make sure we lock in, pay attention to detail, stick to our defensive scheme and in all honesty just handle business and have fun with the game.”. . . Some of the celebrities who attended Sunday’s game include Mavs hall of famer Dirk Nowitzki, ex-Mavs guard Jason Terry, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (wearing dark shades) . . . When Kelly Clarkson’s hit song, Since You’ve Been Gone, was played in the arena, the words were shown on the Jumbotron. And TNT analyst, Shaquille O’Neal, was sitting courtside and was signing right along as the crowd was hysterical. O’Neal sat near actress/rapper Queen Latifah. . .Coach Jason Kidd raved about the play of second-year guard Jaden Hardy, who scored seven points in 11 minutes on Sunday. “Hardy’s done an incredible job,” Kidd said. “Understanding the patience of waiting. His energy, his attitude has been really, really positive and really good. When you talk about youth, sometimes they’re always in a hurry. But he has shown patience, and when called upon he’s been ready. He works extremely hard on his craft. The developmental group that works with him should also get some credit with keeping him ready.”. .Kidd was extremely proud that his team was able to hold Minnesota to just 20 points in the fourth quarter after the game was tied at 87 after three quarters. “I think sometimes when you look at the defense, we’re trying to protect the paint,” Kidd said. “Also, we’re trying guard the three-point line. Minnesota is a very good team. They can stretch you out. Again, our defense wasn’t perfect, but we got the misses when we needed to, and we got the rebound. And that’s the big thing we talked about as a group. Our defense, we feel, is pretty good, and a lot of times we come up and we don’t get the defensive rebound. But I thought tonight in the fourth quarter we did a really good job.”

X: @DwainPrice