Mavericks rookie center Dereck Lively II apparently can’t catch a break.
After recently returning from a four-game absence due to a sprained left ankle he suffered during Dec. 16 in Portland, Lively sprained the same ankle during Wednesday’s 126-97 win over the Trail Blazers at American Airlines Center.
The injury occurred with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter when Lively got tangled up with Blazers guard Scoot Henderson. As a hush fell over AAC, Lively was helped off the court and to the locker room.
“We feel for him, we feel for Grant (Williams, who sprained his right ankle), but especially our young fella (Lively),” guard Kyrie Irving said. “He’s kind of been dealing with the reality of the NBA season. Anything can happen. You can go down with an injury in any game.
“It’s tough on anyone, and I know it’s tough on him because he knows how important he is for our team, our rebounding, holding down the paint, being able to set great screens. But right now we’re going to have next man up if he doesn’t play in the next game.”
Before the game, coach Jason Kidd was discussing Lively and his importance to the Mavs and how important it is for him to stay out of foul trouble.
“As a 19-year old you’re trying to protect him,” Kidd said. “He’s only gotten into foul trouble a couple of times, but at the same time you would like him to be a little bit more aggressive.
“You’re going to have to foul early on in your career when you block shots. It’s something that we’ve asked him to do and we need him to do – to protect the rim. I think the big thing is just his basketball IQ. He knows how to play the game at a high level.”
Kidd, though, recalled last Wednesday’s game when Cleveland All-Star center Jarrett Allen went right at Lively on the game’s first possession and drew a foul.
“Being ready is something that we’ve talked to him about a lot every day in a sense of, when you talk about the Cleveland game, they went right at him on the first play,” Kidd said. “The question was not that if it was a foul or not a foul, but were you ready? And he was very honest and said he wasn’t ready.
“I think it’s just understanding being ready and understanding what you can get away with. Me as the head coach I would love for him to be in a little bit more foul trouble so that he can understand what he can get away with and what he can’t. It’s a fine line. Some people will disagree with that, which is fine. But I think just understanding that we need him to protect the rim.”
Lively was scoreless – he missed his only field goal attempt – and had four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals in 19 minutes before he was injured Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Blazers coach Chauncey Billups appears to be a huge Lively fan.
“The big kid, I’ve been very impressed with Lively, man,” Billups said. “I’ve been very, very impressed with him.
“He plays like he’s been playing in the league for quite some time. He’s vocal out there and he plays with some IQ and some feel out there that you see most four, five and six-year veterans playing with.”
Kidd said the injuries to Lively and Williams were mild and that they’re receiving treatment.
BRIEFLY: Three players for the Mavs who didn’t suit up Wednesday include Dante Exum (right heel contusion), Richaun Holmes (personal reasons) and Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation). . .Coach Jason Kidd said he talked to point guard Luka Dončić over the offseason about the Mavs wanting to push the pace more this season. “Being able to play faster so that he doesn’t have to carry the defense 94 feet for 40 minutes,” Kidd said. “I think playing with pace and being able to add the catch-and-shoot, shooting the three at a high level. But the small things, too – being able to shoot the free throws as much as he’s going to the line. That makes the game a lot easier and that helps you when you’re scoring 30.5 points (a game). It becomes easy and fun. Maybe at practice guys teasing him that he couldn’t do something, so when he hears the hecklers he takes it to heart and wants to show you he can do it. When you’re that good you can easily be fine without working. But he wants to be great. He wants to be one of the best in the world, so being able to add something at this level just makes the game easier.”. .On playing so many games on the road and now having a seven-game home stand, Kidd said: “The last few days were tough. The schedule, everybody is going to go through it. But it’s good to be home for two weeks here. We’ve got a nice home stand to hopefully get healthy and then also to protect home. We’ve got a baseball schedule here at the beginning of this home stand (with two games against Portland) and at the end (with two games against New Orleans). So, this is a good stretch for us to get better.”
X: @DwainPrice
Share and comment