Dereck Lively II Finds His Availability Status For Mavericks-Wolves Game 4 Up In The Air

Abhishek Dhariwal | 28/05/2024
Dereck Lively II Finds His Availability Status For Mavericks-Wolves Game 4 Up In The Air

The Dallas Mavericks have a 3-0 lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. Only a game away from sweeping the Wolves and advancing to the NBA Finals, the Mavericks will look to end this series in the upcoming Game 4. But will Dallas be forced to try to do it without Dereck Lively II?

As per the official injury report of the league, the Dallas Mavericks have listed Dereck Lively II as “doubtful” for Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight, due to a sprain in his neck.

The young big man has been averaging 8.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. He crashed the boards exceptionally well in Game 1 and took some of the scoring pressure upon himself in Game 2. 

In Game 3, Lively unfortunately played under 10 minutes before he picked up his injury. Worse, while he has not been flagged as ‘Out’ just yet, the pregame evaluation is not likely to clear Derek Lively II for the fourth game of this series.

In all likelihood, the Dallas Mavericks will have to take the floor without Dereck Lively II tonight, with Dwight Powell expected to pick up a large portion of the rookie’s minutes. But, with the Minnesota Timberwolves hungry to grab their first victory of this series, will this be enough of an adjustment for the Mavs to grab this closeout game?

Only time will tell.

Post Edited By: Tonoy Sengupta
Dallas Mavericks Dereck Lively II NBA

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Abhishek Dhariwal

A fan of Basketball since the late 2000s, Abhishek Dhaiwal has been covering the game for over five years. Having done his masters in Journalism and Mass Communication, Abhishek is an NBA sports journalist at The SportsRush. A fan of the San Antonio Spurs since the Tim Duncan era, Abhishek has an extensive knowledge of the sport and has covered more than 1500 articles. Having a firsthand experience of the sport, Abhishek has represented his city and state at a District and National level. And it is the same level of expertise he aims to bring while covering extensive topics both on and off the court of your favorite basketball stars.

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