Dereck Lively II never had more than 13 points during the entirety of his tenure as a big man in college at Duke.
Coming off the bench in his NBA regular season debut, he managed to score as many points midway through the third quarter. He finished with 16 points (7-of-8 FG, 2-of-3 FT) with 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and just one turnover.
But most importantly, meanwhile, he managed to play spoiler in San Antonio on the court against No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama as the Mavericks beat the Spurs on Opening Night. It was just a fantastic performance from the first-year big man.
RELATED: Meet Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively, the big man from Duke who is going to dominate on defense
Dereck Lively II (16 PTS, 10 REB, 87.5% FG) is only the 2nd player in NBA History to record 15+ points and 10+ rebounds on 85+% shooting in an NBA debut. pic.twitter.com/8cHix8Iti0
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) October 26, 2023
Lively provided exactly what the doctor ordered for the Mavericks.
While his most elite trait is his rim protection, his offensive efficiency on scoring attempts near the basket is also incredibly important. He made an impact as a roll man in the pick and roll and cleaned up messes on offensive rebound putbacks.
Dereck Lively II with the MASSIVE putback pic.twitter.com/2CSaKi2Ve7
— Nick Angstadt (@NickVanExit) October 26, 2023
He caught alley-oop passes from Luka Doncic (who had very high praise, although profane, about the rookie) and he had the highest plus-minus (20) of anyone on either team during the game.
This is exactly what Lively set out to do during his NBA debut. He told us:
“First game, first practice, first whatever, I’m just trying to go out there and be the most coachable player and try to be the best teammate and be able to be the best player on the court. No matter if that’s me diving out of bounds or diving on the floor to save a ball or making an extra pass or making an extra rebound or doing whatever it takes to win, I just want to go out there and show the world that no matter what it is I need to do. I’m going to do whatever it takes.”
Kudos to Lively for making a name for himself and helping his team win.
The rookie likely earned a spot in the starting lineup for sooner rather than later.
