Dereck Lively II and Derrick White (Image Source: Sports Center)
When the Dallas Mavericks qualified for the 2024 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, many believed the series would be exciting, with both teams performing at the same level. However, things didn’t turn out as anticipated. The Mavs suffered their third loss on Wednesday, upsetting their home crowd despite creating beautiful moments in the game while missing some easy shots.

During the second quarter, the franchise’s guard, Luka Doncic, assisted a flawless pass to teammate Dereck Lively II, who was near the rim and had a clear shot at turning it into a basket. But to everyone’s surprise, the 20-year-old attempted to dunk the ball, but it hit the rim and bounced back.

Soon, the video of the center missing this easy shot started surfacing online, and the NBA community went insane. Clutch Points posted the video on their X (FKA Twitter) handle with the caption, “Dereck Lively II couldn’t believe he missed the alley-oop.” Fans began pouring in their comments.

“Neither could we,” replied a fan.

While an astonished fan asked, “How did he miss that?”

One fan added, “I guess you can’t make them all! L O L.”

“Damn rook,” read one of the comments.

“We call that an Alley-oops,” joked a fan.

Lively did not only grab attention with his miss but also for imprinting his name on the league’s history books with a historic feat.

Dereck Lively II Achieves Historic NBA Finals Feat Despite Mavs Loss

Dereck Lively II might not have impressed the fans with his numbers in the first two games of the series, but he came out in the third with 13 rebounds, becoming the youngest player to grab ten rebounds or more in the Finals, according to Stat Muse.

Playing for 30 minutes, Lively managed 11 points, his most in the series, but he couldn’t help with the win. Despite a good start, they were defeated 99-106.

The 7-foot-1 rookie is as motivated as they come; he’s hellbent on succeeding. Dereck Lively needs to maintain the same performance on Friday at the American Airlines Center to help the Mavs on both ends and win Game 4 if they want to remain in the series.