Dereck Lively Sets Tone for Dallas Mavs Amid 'Physical & Mental Battle' of Road Back-to-Back

Mavs rookie Dereck Lively II continues to show his uncanny maturity and impact as a rookie, even amid a tough "physical and mental battle" of a road back-to-back.

MILWAUKEE — On the second night of a back-to-back following a blowout loss against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Dallas Mavericks needed to respond against the Washington Wizards with Kyrie Irving sidelined. With a combination of paint protection, play finishing, and overall energy, Dereck Lively II helped to get the job done, recording 17 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks in the 130-117 victory.

"It really just comes out of just showing the energy, you know, it's making a statement, you know, being able to know that everybody's looking at us," Lively said.

"No matter if that's a good game, bad games, we have to bounce back to make a statement for ourselves. We're trying to really show what we can do, and I think we're doing a good job. We move the ball; we find the open man, no matter if that's getting into the paint, no matter if that's kickouts, no matter if that's trail 3s, everybody's getting the ball and everybody's going to find a way to get put the ball in the basket."

Lively, who is averaging 9.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 24.1 minutes per game through 11 games, is still going through the familiarization process of being a rookie in the NBA, even if that's difficult to believe, given his level of maturity and immediate impact. Among those adjustments is the travel. The Mavs left New Orleans on Tuesday night and arrived in Washington, D.C., mid-morning, tipping off two games in 24 hours. 

"It's a physical and mental battle. You have to make sure you're getting your body and mind right," Lively said. "You have to focus on what happened last game to make the correction and get to the next game. At the same time, you can't lag thinking about what happened in the previous game because it's the next-play mentality. 

"You have to care of yourself as a pro, know assignments, know your plays and different schemes no matter what they throw at you," Lively explained. "You have to try to be one step ahead."

With the Mavs responding in a significant way with their victory against the Wizards, Lively commended the energy and trust the team played with on offense and defense. He stressed the importance of trusting the pass within the flow of the offense and the need to pick up teammates during missed assignments. 

"It all just comes down to energy and trust each other on the defensive end, on the offensive end," Lively said.

"Being able to trust in the first pass, the next pass. You just have to know that whoever's lagging, the next person's going to step up no matter what, no matter if that's a couple of missed defensive assignments, no matter if that's a couple of missed shots, teammates are going to pick each other up to make sure we get through the game and get out on top."

Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II contesting a shot at the rim against the Washington Wizards / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Not only do the travel challenges and the natural ups and downs of the NBA season come into focus within the flow of the calendar, but Lively is also seeing different defensive coverages with the focus of the opposition being to stifle him from succeeding in pick-and-roll actions with Luka Doncic. 

In the first matchup against the Pelicans on Sunday, the Mavs offense thrived, often picking apart Jonas Valanciunas in ball screening actions and generally hunting favorable matchups. A key difference in Tuesday's loss? Herb Jones was in the lineup. He was placed on Lively to begin the game to be the one switching in the action, while Valancinuas was sending an early low-man presence, essentially daring Derrick Jones Jr. to shoot from the corner. They saw it again in Washington, D.C.

"Yeah, I think we're going to see everything from box-and-one to trying just to get us to think about the different matchups and try to slow the offense down," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said.

"I thought for last night, for us to see it again tonight, I thought the guys handled it well. We talked about it, and again, we're going to see different defenses that are going to try to slow us down and make us think about who we should bring instead of just the continuity of flow, and the ball is going to find the open guy, and I thought the guys did a great job tonight with that."

Specifically, the Wizards deployed a similar defensive strategy as the Pelicans, although with less capable defensive personnel, using Kyle Kuzma early in the game to guard Lively often and being put into the action. At the same time, Daniel Gafford pre-rotated off of Jones in the corner to make attacking the paint more challenging for the Mavs. Lively already has a strong understanding of what's required of him and the cause-and-effect that can happen based on different reads. 

"You could put me in the ball screen and have them switch, or you can have them blitz, and I'm just going to play out of the short roll," Lively said.

"Or if you have the wing guarding me, I'm going to pull the wing — I'll go corner, short corner, and have whoever the big is guarding will set the screen, and then whatever action they play out of that, it's either going to be a pocket pass in the short roll, or they're going to play out of it and pass-pass. I'm either going to play on the offensive rebound, play on the rebounding side, or just wait for my teammates to find me in the right spots."

The Mavs continued to get creative with counters of ball-screening actions to make the Wizards pay for their defensive strategy. With the Mavs hunting mismatches, they like to bring wings into screening actions since the defense sometimes will hide the weakest defender on either Grant Williams, Jones, or whoever else is on the wing. The Wizards tried to hide Jordan Poole on Williams often, creating opportunities to play out of a short-roll to counter the blitz, resulting in Lively being a relief option along the baseline dunker spot for Williams to make the dropoff pass. 

"You have to trust the next pass," Lively said. "Luka will be everybody's focus, but that doesn't mean all the other four players on the court can't get to it. You have to know when it's my man stepping up, you can throw a lob, you can go wrap around, dump off. There's a bunch of ways to get me involved. And if you choose to just step back on me, that means my teammates are going to get an open shot. You have to pick your poison and try to pick them apart."

When observing high-level teams in the NBA, traits often elevate a team's floor on a nightly basis, with key players setting the tone in those areas. Having a rim protector, rebounder, and an efficient play finisher at the five is often an effective way to establish an identity of a successful team, as Lively has shown capable of doing. 

Lively often deterred the Wizards from attempting shots at the rim, sometimes from even looking at it, when attacking the paint. He sent enough of a message with a few blocks and vertical contests when attempts did go up while also handling switching in space effectively. Amid the early success, he already has clear focus areas to further his in-season development, including contesting paint shots by going straight up and sliding his feet instead of fouling.

"Definitely through my foul trouble games, I have to know that when I'm playing, I have to be straight up, know when I'm in the restricted, when I'm out of the restricted, I have to move my feet and can't to use my hands when I'm guarding," Lively said. "I have to move my feet and just try to be able to stay between the ball handler and the basket. 

"There are a lot of things that will come down at the game, and I'm learning on the fly and trying to be able to pick up things."

As Lively continues learning on the fly, as he often says, he's already making a strong impact for a Mavs team that needed more of an interior presence and the ideal physical intangibles at the center position. 

The Mavs return to action on Saturday to complete a four-game road trip with a matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks.