3 studs, 2 duds in Mavericks’ dominant victory over Grizzlies

2. Dud - Dereck Lively II

In the first week of the NBA regular season, one of the rookies who had made some serious noise was Dereck Lively II.

Lively II has consistently proven that he is a major lob threat and rim protector for the Mavericks, but in the win, he barely saw the floor after being in foul trouble throughout the whole night.

The 7-foot-1 rookie saw the floor for just 14 minutes in the Mavs' victory over the injured Grizzlies team. Lively II finished the first half with four fouls and seemed to be very frustrated with the officiating.

Although Lively II and Doncic connected on an alley-oop late in the second quarter, Mavs fans had expected more out of the rookie. Lively II finished the game with two points, six rebounds, and one block. He also finished with five personal fouls.

With Maxi Kleber struggling so far this season, it will be very important for Lively II to stay out of foul trouble early in the game.

If Jason Kidd is serious about Lively finishing out the games for the Mavs, he should possibly consider making a minutes change in the rotation to prevent these kinds of situations.

Lively II has made a clear case that he’s the team's best rim protector, so hopefully there will be an improvement in getting in early-game foul trouble.