Dallas Mavs Injury Updates: Latest on Dereck Lively II and Josh Green Before Atlanta Hawks Matchup

The Mavs have already ruled out Dereck Lively II and Josh Green for Thursday's game against the Hawks. When will they return?

Mar 29, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) hangs on the / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks played their five-game road trip with Josh Green sidelined due to a right ankle sprain. Dereck Lively II went down with a right knee sprain during the Mavs' victory over the Houston Rockets. Both players have already been ruled out for Thursday's game against the Atlanta Hawks.

For Lively, Mavs coach Jason Kidd shared before Tuesday's loss against the Golden State Warriors that "concern" isn't the right word to describe the present situation for Lively. There is a possible outlook for his recovery to last as long as two weeks, but the team remains optimistic and is taking it day by day.

"Concern, I don't know is the right word. It could be two weeks where he could be out," Kidd said about Lively on Tuesday. "But we'll see how he feels. We'll take it day by day, but hopefully, he's back sooner than later."

Mar 29, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) hangs on the / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

While Lively remains sidelined, the Mavs remain optimistic about their options to try to get by without the rookie big man. Dwight Powell went from being a DNP-CD to receiving spot minutes against the Warriors. Dallas is confident in deploying small ball personnel with Maxi Kleber or P.J. Washington at the five.

"[Dwght Powell] will play D Live's minutes and he's ready to go, so we'll see how that goes," Kidd said. "But we do have the luxury of being able to play Maxi at the five or even play P.J. at the five."

Green has not played since March 14 when he suffered his injury in the first quarter over their road loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He logged only four minutes of action before tripping over Lively's foot, causing him to require assistance getting off the court and into the locker room.

Green has been working out in an effort to return to competition lately, but it remains to be seen regarding an exact timetable. That isn't to add confusion to the situation but instead, Dallas tends to refrain from providing timetable updates until a player is very close to making a return.