As he watched Dereck Lively II keep another offensive rebound alive and give the Mavericks a second chance for points Tuesday at Minnesota, coach Jason Kidd’s first thought was that messages he and his staff have sent to the second-year center are being received loud and clear.
The crux of those messages?
“Go get it,” Kidd said.
In the Mavericks’ first four games, Lively has gotten it. He’s had nine or more rebounds in three of the four and been responsible for a big chunk of the 76 second-chance points the Mavericks scored in those three victories.
“D-Live has been a monster for us getting us second and third opportunities,” Kidd said. “A lot of times with the switching that’s taking place, he’s got a small (player on him). So he’s taking full advantage of the opportunity to go get the rebounds against the smalls with the switching.
“If he’s not putting it back, he’s trying to find the three-point shooters or get the ball back to our quarterbacks. But he’s done an incredible job of being able to offensive rebound or tip it out. If you get that activity with a live body like D-Live in the fourth quarter, it gives you a second or third opportunity and a lot of times if you do that, you’re going to be able to score.”
The Mavericks did that in the 120-114 victory over Minnesota in the rematch of the Western Conference finals, which the Mavericks won in five games. On Tuesday, Lively had four offensive rebounds, same as P.J. Washington. The Mavericks had 23 second-chance points.
In their three wins, the Mavericks have averaged 25.3 second-chance points. In their loss at Phoenix, they had nine.
Lively said after the Minnesota game that he has embraced the coaching staff’s request that he assert himself on the boards. Rebounding remains one of the most telling stats in basketball.
And even before the question was finished about what the coaches want, Lively intervened.
“Go get it. Every time,” he said. “They want me to try to keep every play alive, no matter if it’s me diving out of bounds or me trying to wrestle three people for a board. Go out there and give everything.
“I’m just trying to get my team some extra possessions. There’s times when there’s not options for me to get a lob, for me to get a post-up. So other ways for me to effect the game is to get on the offensive board and get us extra shots.”
At the other end, the Mavericks have proven to be a gang-rebounding team, something that has to happen given the fact that Lively and Daniel Gafford, his tag-team running mate at center, are responsible for protecting the rim.
“Our bigs have been doing great,” said Kyrie Irving. “We got to help them out when they contest shots. We got the best rim protection in the league. So we got to really protect them and limit teams from getting offensive rebounds.”
And be secure in the knowledge that Lively will give his teammates plenty of second chances at the other end.
Here are our other takeaways from Tuesday’s win at Target Center.
Kyrie getting work done: Anybody remember that wrist surgery Kyrie Irving had back in the summer? Naw, me neither. The veteran guard has had a fabulous start to the season. He’s been all business so far in averaging 23.8 points, including 35 in Tuesday’s impressive win at Minnesota. The play of Irving in the two most recent games – both of which featured human-style showings by Luka Dončić (a combined 15-of-49 shooting) – has been superb. He had 23 points against Utah on Monday and followed it up with 35 on the second night of a back-to-back. Minnesota fans don’t particularly care for Dončić, but on Tuesday several of them could be heard saying that Irving “just kills us.” Said Irving: “I’m really just trying to catch a flow to the game. We have so much talent sometimes you can get caught watching someone else’s greatness. So you got to continue to make the little plays happen, the screening, giving yourself up for your teammate.” So far, Irving has done pretty much all of it.
Mix and match: The Mavericks’ bench has been a thing of beauty so far mainly because of its diversity. Five different players have had major impacts in the first four games. On Tuesday, it was Quentin Grimes’ turn as he knocked in three of five three-pointers, two of them in the third quarter when the Mavericks took charge of the game.
No surprise that Luka came alive: Though he had missed his first seven three-point shots and would finish just 10-of-27 from the field overall, Dončić still had the game-clinching shot, a three-pointer with 1:04 to go that put the Mavericks up 117-109. It was no ordinary three-pointer, but a 32-footer that came over a defender’s outstretched arm. This after Luka left the game earlier with a right leg injury. “At times like that, amazing players are going to bounce back no matter what’s happening,” Lively said. “I know he’s going to get banged up from time to time. It’s our job to pick him up and for him to make easy plays.”
So far, so good: The Mavericks are 3-1 and while they haven’t looked great all the time, the results are hard to argue with. They’ve been good at executing well enough to win some close games early in the season. It’s never too early to bank those W’s. “Everybody’s trying to win,” Kidd said. “Every game means something. We haven’t played our best. I thought this was a step forward in playing better Mavs basketball as a team. Now we’re home for a while (five games). We have to protect home. But this was definitely a win we can build on.”
X: @ESefko
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