Neither Dereck Lively nor Daniel Gafford is expected to play on Saturday in Chicago, but the two Mavericks big men are trending in the right direction in their injury recoveries.
Lively and Gafford were upgraded from “out” to “doubtful” for Saturday’s game, a sign that their returns aren’t far off. According to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link), both players are on track to be reactivated at some point next week.
Lively, who took over as Dallas’ starting center in November, hasn’t played since January 14, having sustained a stress fracture in his right ankle. Reporting at the time indicated that he would likely be sidelined for two-to-three months, so he’ll fall right in that window if he’s able to make it back in the coming days.
Gafford, who has shared starting duties with Lively this season, sustained a Grade 3 MCL sprain in his right knee on February 10 and has been on the shelf for the Mavericks’ past 20 games. A report on Feb. 13 stated he would likely miss six weeks — it has been six weeks and two days since then.
While Lively’s injury occurred earlier in the year, Gafford’s was part of a wave of health issues that devastated the Mavericks shortly after February’s trade deadline. In addition to missing Lively and Gafford, the Mavs were without Anthony Davis for 18 games due to an adductor strain, rendering the club’s top three big men unavailable for well over a month.
Davis returned to action on Monday and with Lively and Gafford apparently not far behind, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel in Dallas as the team pushes for a play-in spot. Of course, as a result of Kyrie Irving‘s season-ending ACL tear, the championship aspirations the Mavs had at the trade deadline are likely no longer realistic, but they would be a tough out in the play-in tournament if their frontcourt is fully healthy.
After visiting Chicago on Saturday, the Mavericks will host the Nets on Monday and the Hawks on Wednesday before facing the Clippers in Los Angeles next Friday and Saturday. Entering play on Saturday, Dallas holds the No. 10 spot in the West with a 36-38 record. The team is just a half-game behind the No. 9 Kings and one game ahead of the No. 11 Suns.
Mavs front office still in a round room looking for corners. Haven’t a clue which direction they’re going in. Not only do mavs need their pick, they need to absolutely get the steal or stud of the draft after the luka trade. Let’s go for a play in defeat, yay. Trying to trick the fans into actually being legit going forward. Not even 12 months removed from the finals….wow. completely lost the plot
Mavs r good bro
Mavs will be dangerous. Winning 2 away games to get into the playoffs won’t be easy, though.
They will be a tough out in the play-in. The same should be true next s year with Kyrie returning late in the season. And then best case scenario, they still have a run in then in 26-27.
They need to practice to find a common sense to win eliminating the negative foul hate.
The good news is. We all can see AD at the 4. With solid centers next to him. This is why they went after him. Kidd will have to make it work. Mavs are good enough to make the play in.