Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II has been listed as questionable for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. Lively missed Game 4 with a neck sprain, and it was obvious how much the Mavericks missed his presence in their 105-100 loss on Tuesday.
Lively participated in the team's morning workout on Thursday. Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News spoke with Lively and reported that his playing status "won't be known until closer to game time."
Nothing official until closer to tipoff. Lively said after this workout that his playing status won’t be known until closer to gametime, after he goes through more work and sees how his neck reacts. He looks good here, though.. pic.twitter.com/k4EL3091rQ
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) May 30, 2024
Lively sustained a neck injury in the Mavericks' Game 3 win against the Timberwolves. It happened in the second quarter when Karl-Anthony Towns' knee collided with the back of Lively's head as he fell to the ground. He immediately began grabbing at his head and stayed on the ground for a long time. He was helped back to the locker room by teammates and was visibly shaken up from the collision.
Dereck Lively II is down on the ground after suffering an apparent head injury.
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 27, 2024
Prayers up for D-Live 🙏
pic.twitter.com/ZMSmbs1tnY
Lively was first ruled questionable to return to that game, but then the Mavericks ruled him out for the duration of Game 3, and while they managed to get a win without their rookie big man, his absence was certainly felt in the Game 4 loss. Without Lively coming in off the bench, the Mavericks scrambled to try and find solutions to contend with Minnesota's obvious size advantage. They tried to give backup center Dwight Powell minutes, but he was quickly outmatched against both Rudy Gobert and Towns. Maxi Kleber did return to the lineup in Game 4 after missing a chunk of the playoffs with a shoulder injury, but he doesn't provide the same level of rim protection and energy as Lively does.
As a result, the Timberwolves were able to get pretty much whatever they wanted, as Anthony Edwards was able to attack the paint without Lively looming under the basket. It also created mismatch opportunities for the Wolves, where they forced Luka Doncic to guard Rudy Gobert at times, allowing the Frenchman to get easy buckets around the rim and get to the free-throw line. After the loss, Doncic spoke of Lively's importance to this Mavericks team.
"Yeah, he's a big piece to our defense and offense," Doncic said. "So we miss him a lot."
While it's a positive sign that Lively is listed as questionable for Game 5, he was also given the same status for Game 4 before being officially ruled out. We'll have to see if he's able to heal up enough to play a significant role on Thursday. If Game 4 was any indication, the Mavericks would certainly need him if they want to close out the Timberwolves and avoid extending this series any further.
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