DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford is set to return from a right knee sprain on Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets. Dereck Lively II, however, will remain out with a right ankle stress fracture.
Gafford and Lively received hopeful updates on Sunday. Lively was upgraded to questionable for Monday’s game, while Gafford was upgraded to probable. It seemed likely that Gafford would play barring any setbacks. Lively’s status was uncertain, though. Sure enough, Gafford was made available and Lively was ruled out.
However, when asked before tip-off on Monday if Lively could return this week, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said that the center is “trending” in a promising direction. It seems likely that a return could come to fruition at some point this week.
The Mavs will host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday before heading to Los Angeles to play the Clippers in a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday. It remains to be seen when Lively will return, but Wednesday’s game appears to be a possibility.
Lively has been out since January. The fact that Lively was upgraded to questionable is a good sign. He is clearly trending in the right direction as Kidd said.
Through 32 games (25 starts), Lively has averaged 9.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per outing this season. He is also shooting 70.1 percent from the field. Lively was playing well before suffering the injury.
The Mavericks are hopeful he can return soon and appear in some games before a potential NBA Play-In Tournament contest. Dallas won’t be at completely full strength in the postseason since players such as Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum are out for the remainder of the season, but the team is getting a number of impactful players back.
Perhaps this Mavs team can make some noise in the postseason, assuming they clinch a spot. At the moment, the Mavericks are in 9th place in the Western Conference standings with a 37-38 record.
We will continue to monitor and provide updates on Dereck Lively II’s injury status as they are made available.
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