Like so many teams across the league, the Dallas Mavericks played their first game in five days against the LA Clippers on Thursday night following the conclusion of the NBA Cup. This game also marked the first of a home-and-home matchup between the Mavs and Clippers which saw Derrick Jones Jr. make his return to Dallas after signing with LA in the summer.
While it was announced before tip-off that superstars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving would be sidelined with their respective injuries, this game allowed for other Mavericks to get needed time on the court before Christmas.
Not only did guys like Jazian Gortman and Olivier-Maxence Prosper get extra run with Doncic and Irving out, but this game also allowed Klay Thompson to run the offense and get plenty of touches. In his extended role, Thompson scored 22 points on inefficient numbers from deep.
Despite this, Thompson still proved he could move the rock after connecting with Dereck Lively II on multiple lob attempts. While this game had little long-term effect on the Mavericks, it highlighted one area that the Mavericks and Lively II have yet to improve on despite making multiple remarks this offseason.
Lively II has yet to showcase his 3-pointer despite offseason remarks
Coming into the NBA, Lively II was known as a defensive stopper and a lob threat on the offensive end. While Lively II has lived up to this to begin his career, he also displayed his 3-point shot in the pre-draft process. This 3-point jumper could have been one of the reasons Dallas selected him with the 12 overall pick, as he soared up draft boards.
Despite not taking a single attempt from behind the arc throughout the regular season as a rookie, Lively II shocked the world when he made his first attempt in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Lively II's 3-point shot attempt not only got the crowd off their feet at the moment but it had fans drooling in the offseason at the thought of the seven-footer stretching the floor.
In the offseason, Lively II even hinted at the possibility of taking one or two shots from behind the arc a game in his second season. While this seemed like a stretch at the moment, it has proven to be completely false 27 games into the Mavericks season.
While it is still early in the season, Lively II has had plenty of open looks at the basket from deep but has yet to pull the trigger. It may be a matter of time before the former Blue Devil starts to shoot threes consistently, but his ability to stretch the floor could be a needed skill by the time playoffs roll around.
Oftentimes, Lively II will get stuck at the top of the key waiting for a guard to come to get the ball from his hands to run a high-screen pick-and-roll. Although this has become Dallas' bread and butter over the last two seasons, Lively II's ability to stretch the floor could be an added threat for defenses to be wary of.
It's unlikely Lively II will get the space he has gotten in the past to let it fly from deep multiple times a game, but assuming he can become a threat to hit a shot from behind the arc 35 percent of the time, it could be just deadly enough that defenses have to focus on one more perimeter shooter in the Mavericks offense.
It's only a matter of time before Lively II lets it fly from deep, but now could be the perfect time to get the big man comfortable from behind the arc before games start to matter.
