NBA playoffs: Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II reportedly ‘OK’ after taking violent knee to head in Game 3

Dallas Mavericks heart Dereck Vigorous II left their 116-107 playoff win over the Timberwolves after taking an inadvertent knee to the again of his head from Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Cities.

The incident passed off within the second quarter with Dallas main, 43-33. Vigorous fell backward towards the court docket after contesting a missed soar shot by Mike Conley. As he fell to the court docket, the again of his head slammed into Cities’ proper knee as Cities jumped in an effort to corral the rebound.

Vigorous’s head snapped ahead, and he remained down on the court docket for a number of moments. He was finally capable of arise and go away the court docket with the assistance of teammates. He was clearly woozy and headed straight for the locker room.

The Mavericks listed him as questionable at halftime with a neck sprain earlier than ruling him out within the third quarter. He left the sector after the sport to get a scan to find out the severity of his neck sprain, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. He was not within the NBA’s concussion protocol as of Sunday night time.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday morning that tests on Lively’s neck came back “OK,” however the Mavericks listed him as “uncertain” for Recreation 4.

Alongside the speedy concern about his well being, the lack of Vigorous on Sunday and doubtlessly past is a major blow for the Mavericks.

Vigorous’s contribution to Dallas playoff run

The twelfth decide of the 2023 draft out of Duke, Vigorous’s been a revelation for the Mavericks as a key contributor of their run to the Western Convention finals. An All-Rookie crew choice, Vigorous averaged 8.7 factors, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocks off the bench in 14 playoff video games earlier than Sunday.

His protection and presence within the submit have been invaluable as Dallas has superior previous the Los Angeles Clippers and top-seeded Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder within the postseason. He posted 11 factors, 15 rebounds and a +26 within the plus/minus column within the Mavericks’ closeout Recreation 6 win over the Thunder within the second spherical. He is but to overlook a discipline objective in two-plus video games towards Minnesota whereas capturing 13 of 13 from the sphere.

Per TNT, his +108 for the postseason is the second-best plus/minus by a rookie since 1997. A 7-1 heart, his presence is essential towards a Timberwolves crew that options three bigs in Cities, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid.

Dallas entered Recreation 3 with a 2-0 collection lead after successful Video games 1 and a couple of in Minnesota. The Mavericks, behind 66 mixed factors from Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, pushed forward to a nine-point win in Recreation 3 on Sunday night time. That gave them a 3-0 collection lead and now has them only a single win away from reaching their first NBA Finals since they gained the title with Dirk Nowitzki in 2011. The Mavericks can have an opportunity to clinch the collection win at dwelling in Recreation 4 on Tuesday night time.