Lively had a very special defensive play in the win against the Clippers
It might seem strange to write a dedicated post about one block early in the fourth quarter of a late-December NBA game, but Dereck Lively’s rejection of Norman Powell was so good it felt necessary to do it.
The Mavericks beat the Clippers 113-97 Saturday night, in large part due to Lively’s monstrous presence — 11 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks. Lively was both literally and figuratively everywhere for Dallas tonight, and his block against Powell in the fourth quarter was a good summation of that.
The play starts with Powell in a pick and roll, with Lively jumping out to Powell to prevent a pull up three. Powell uses a good hesitation move to catch Lively flat-footed and scoots by him into the paint. Lively is trailing Powell on this play, and Powell does what all good, seasoned scorers do: he uses the rim as protection, and goes under the basket to shoot on the other side. Good scorers do this all the time in the NBA, so the trailing shot blocker can’t get an easy swat.
A funny thing happens though — Lively swats the shot anyway. Lively’s timing and feel for the game on defense are otherworldly for a player as young as him. We saw that as a rookie when he was at times the Mavericks best defensive player during a playoff run that culminated in a trip to the NBA Finals. Lively will make a silly, youthful mistake every now and then to remind you that he is just 20-years-old, but they’re few and far between, especially when he’s mixing in plays you normally see from 30-year-olds, like this one.
It helps that Lively’s physical gifts are so immense, with his 7’8 wingspan and bouncy hops. But all the physical tools in the world don’t make Lively what he is, it’s him pairing that with a mind beyond his age. Lively’s ability to track Powell under the basket and time his jump to block the shout without fouling are so good in this play.
I might be gushing too much with what looks like a pretty normal NBA defensive play, but it really is that good. In my head, about 8-of-10 times in this scenario the ball handler either scores or gets fouled. Lively not only defending the play successfully but making a splash play that led to a transition opportunity just further underscores how great his defensive awareness truly is.
Dereck Lively is really good. He has entrenched himself as the Mavericks starting center in just his second season, and not only is he the starter, but he might be the team’s defensive anchor, alongside PJ Washington. Much like we gushed about Luka Doncic’s offensive potential when he was schooling vets as a 19-year-old rookie, Lively’s ceiling as a player almost feels limitless.
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