Dallas Mavs vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Update on Dereck Lively II's Status After Ankle Sprain
Midway though the first quarter of the Dallas Mavericks' matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers, Dereck Lively II, who has been a top-five rookie this season, had to leave the game after tweaking his ankle while going for a rebound.
The Mavs announced late in the second quarter that Lively will not return to the game. The 19-year-old big man didn't score in his six minutes of action and hauled in two rebounds.
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Even without Lively, superstar Luka Doncic still put on a show, scoring 30 points in a half for the ninth time in his career as the Mavs lead the Blazers 74-63 at halftime.
“Definitely. There are a lot of times where we, early in the season, died on first efforts," Lively said after the Mavs' loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. "Just seeing as the season goes on, we’ve been able to try to make it more of an emphasis of being able just to be all over, just getting out on defense, being able to get out on shooters, and being able to talk more so no one’s lost out there.”
Through 22 games, Lively was averaging 9.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 26.2 minutes while shooting a league-high 74 percent from deep. Hopefully, for Dallas' sake, he doesn't miss much time with this ankle injury.
