While Max Kleber could make his return in these playoffs, in the event of qualification for the Finals, the Mavericks lost one more interior last night. It is Derek Lively IIhit in the head, after an involuntary knee strike from Karl-Anthony Towns.
The action took place at the start of the 2nd quarter of the 3rd round when the Mavericks rookie lost his balance during a rebound struggle, just as Towns was entering the paint. The images speak for themselves: Lively takes a big knee to the head. A real whiplash, and it is Markieff Morris who will help his young teammate to reach the locker room. We won't see him again during the match.
“I was told it was a neck strain. We'll see how he feels tomorrow.” reacted Jason Kidd after the meeting. On a collective level, his outing was not so penalizing with Daniel Gafford still valuable above the circle in attack, and in intimidation in defense. And Dwight Powell made a very decent return to replace Lively.
“Injuries are part of the game, and I thought Dwight did a great job” Kidd continues. “We are aware that we found ourselves with a significant deficit, but I found that Dwight responded even though he had not played for a while. He made two free throws. He was aggressive in defense, and had a great opportunity in attack. If Lively is out, Dwight will be ready to play. We trust him. »
A passage through the “concussion protocol”?
And then, Daniel Gafford is still there as a starter, and he still did a lot of harm to the Wolves with his three blocks, and the danger he brings behind the defense. Even if he doesn't score or even if Luka Doncic doesn't find him, the Wolves can't ignore him.
“It was hard to see him go down like he did, because it sucks to get hit in the back of the head.”recalls Gafford about the injury of his understudy. “The back of the neck is a dangerous place to get hit. Seeing him leave the field, I said to myself: “OK, this is going to be a battle!” » Because even if they were physical with us, we were responsive. We had to make sure we turned the corner physically and energized ourselves, and I feel like that's what we did tonight. »
For now, Lively is uncertain for Game 4, scheduled for Tuesday. Maybe the NBA will force him to go through the “concussion protocol”, like after every head impact, and his absence could be several games. Unless the Mavericks close the deal on Tuesday evening.
