Former Duke basketball star [autotag]Dereck Lively[/autotag] didn’t just help the Dallas Mavericks win the Western Conference in his first career postseason. He also made his stamp on NBA postseason history in the process as a rookie.
Lively made all 16 of his attempts from the floor in the five-game series, the most attempts without a miss in any NBA postseason series ever.
The rookie 7-footer missed Game 4 with a neck injury, but he went 4/4 in the opening game of the series before making all six of his efforts in the second game. He went 3/3 in both of the last two games of the series, averaging 9.5 points across his four appearances once his six free throws were factored in.
Through the postseason thus far, Lively averaged 8.6 points and 7.2 rebounds with two double-doubles in 16 games. He also averaged 1.2 blocks per game through the Western bracket, and he put together all of this production without a single start. He averaged 21.8 minutes per contest.
D Live —> made all 16 FGA in the WCF
🤯 most FGM without a miss in a playoff series… ever#DukeintheNBA 😈 @DereckLively pic.twitter.com/uUHFLt9Mu7
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) May 31, 2024
Lively and the Mavericks play the Boston Celtics, led by former Duke star Jayson Tatum, in the best-of-seven NBA Finals series beginning on June 6.