Dereck Lively II Left Game 3 After Getting Kneed In The Head By Karl-Anthony Towns

The Mavs stellar rookie center walked off with some help after a scary collision with Towns as he fell to the court.

Dereck Lively II has been a godsend for the Dallas Mavericks, as the rookie center has given the Mavs exactly what they’ve needed out of the five spot on both ends of the floor.

Since the Daniel Gafford trade, the Mavs have been able to rotate Gafford and Lively in order to keep an elite shot-blocker on the floor at all times, while also providing Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving with a hard rolling lob threat. This postseason, Lively has been huge for Dallas, averaging 8.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game off the bench, but his impact goes beyond the boxscore, as Dallas has been a juggernaut on both ends in his minutes.

Lively continued his strong play early in Game 3 against Minnesota, scoring 6 points (on 3-of-3 from the field) with three rebounds, two assists, and one block in his first nine minutes of action. However, his night got cut suddenly short after a scary collision with Karl-Anthony Towns, as Lively fell to the floor going for a rebound and took a Towns knee to the back of his head.

Lively stayed down for a few minutes getting tended to and needed a teammate’s assistance as he walked back to the locker room looking very unsteady. We will await an official status update on Lively from the Mavericks, but for now Dallas will have to adjust their rotations with one of their key frontcourt contributors missing.

About Author

See author's posts