Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II likes his team's chances of making a deep playoff run this season.
Speaking at NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis on Friday, Lively said he views the Mavs as a dark-horse contender to take home the championship.
"We're the dark horse that everybody doesn't want to look at, but we're in the back of their minds," Lively told reporters, according to Grant Afesth of Sports Illustrated. "We just got to keep this streak going, stay focused, and get each game plan done when game time comes."
The Mavs entered the All-Star break riding a six-game winning streak and sitting seventh in the Western Conference at 32-23. The team recently added P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, whom Lively says have "fit in perfectly" so far.
"We're starting to build chemistry," Lively said. "... Coming back from this All-Star break, we're going to be able to get in the gym, get our schemes down, get our game plans down, and be able to move forward and get some dubs."
Lively, the 12th overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, was among the players competing in Friday's Rising Stars Challenge. He finished with six points and two rebounds to help lead Team Jalen to a 40-35 win over Team Tamika.
