Dereck Lively II stats tonight: How did Mavericks big man perform against Jazz? (Nov. 14)

Dereck Lively II started his first game of the season on Thursday against the Utah Jazz. Lively replaced Daniel Gafford, who has been the regular starter for the Dallas Mavericks since opening night. How did the Mavs big man perform tonight in Salt Lake City?

Lively finished the game with five points, two rebounds, a steal and four blocks. He was limited to just 17 minutes of action because of foul trouble. He had five fouls early in the third quarter but made an impact in the final period.

However, the Mavs fell to the Jazz 115-113 after Naji Marshall missed the game-winning 3-point shot. They were down by as much as 16 to start the fourth quarter before Klay Thompson tied the game at 113 with 27 seconds left. John Collins gave Utah the lead with six seconds remaining.

Here are Dereck Lively II's stats for the game:

Players

PTS

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

MIN

FG

3PT

FT

+/-

Dereck Lively II

5

2

0

1

4

1

5

17:29

2-2

0-0

1-2

+11

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How did Dereck Lively II perform against the Utah Jazz?

Dereck Lively II made his presence felt early with two blocks in two minutes, but that was his only contribution in the first quarter. He was taken out after five minutes due to foul trouble. He had to sit down at the 6:15 mark and was replaced by Gafford.

Lively finished the first 12 minutes with just two blocks, no shot attempts and no rebounds.

In the second quarter, Lively picked up his third foul less than a minute after returning to the court. He had to sit down for the rest of the period since he was too valuable for the Mavericks for the rest of the game. Dallas only had a 64-61 lead at the half.

Lively started the third quarter but committed his fourth foul less than two minutes into the period. Mavs coach Jason Kidd took a gamble and left the young big man on the floor. It didn't pay off since the Duke product was called for his fifth foul with 8:25 left in the third.

Lively entered the game again with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter and played wonderfully. He was one of the main reasons why the Mavericks were able to make the game close. He had five points, two rebounds and two more blocks in the period.

However, a miscommunication between him and Luka Doncic led to an easy dunk by John Collins with six seconds left on the clock. The Mavs might have won the game if Lively wasn't in foul trouble for the majority of the contest.

The Mavericks have now lost four in a row and have dropped to 5-7 for the season. They are still sitting 12th in the Western Conference standings, slightly ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz.