Dallas Mavericks rookie center Dereck Lively II is out for Tuesday’s Game 4 of the Western Conference finals due to a sprained neck he suffered in Sunday’s Game 3 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to head coach Jason Kidd.
Lively suffered the injury when Timberwolves power forward Karl-Anthony Towns inadvertently kneed him in the back of the head when Lively was falling to the floor early in the second quarter.
“He’s doing a lot better,” Kidd said before the game. “…Sore, but he’s feeling better.”
Lively, a second-team All-Rookie selection, has averaged 8.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while shooting 65.3% from the floor during the playoffs. The Mavs have outscored playoff opponents by a total of 109 points with Lively on the floor, the West’s second-best postseason plus-minus this year, behind only Minnesota center Rudy Gobert.
The Mavericks could be getting frontcourt reinforcement from Maxi Kleber, however, as the power forward/center is listed as available for Tuesday night’s game. He has been out since suffering a separation of the AC joint in his right shoulder during Dallas’ first-round closeout win over the LA Clippers.
Superstar guard Luka Doncic, who was also listed as questionable because of his right knee sprain and left ankle soreness, is available to play as well.
Dallas has a chance to advance to the NBA Finals to face the Boston Celtics with a win Tuesday.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this story.