Former Duke basketball one-and-done center Dereck Lively II tallied 15 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and one steal across 28 minutes off the bench in the Dallas Mavericks’ 120-109 season-opening home win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. The defending Western Conference champs’ other NBA Blue Devil, veteran starter and eight-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, played only 27 minutes and matched Lively’s 15 points.

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Meanwhile, fifth-year Spurs guard Tre Jones, now in a backup role after drawing starting nods in the bulk of his appearances the past two seasons, totaled three points, one board, three assists, one steal, and zero turnovers in his 16 minutes on the floor.

Lively, who shot 6-for-8 from the field in the contest, appeared to pick up right where he left off as a reserve booster down the stretch for the memorable 2023-24 Mavericks.

Dating back to the franchise’s statement postseason, the 7-foot-1, 230-pounder has produced a double-double in five of his past 12 outings. Those performances, in which Lively shot a combined 23-for-29 from the field, include the back-to-back variety to help Dallas knock out the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals and two more in the team’s 4-1 NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics and Blue Devil centerpiece Jayson Tatum.

In other words, no stage seems too big for the 20-year-old Dereck Lively II, also routinely serving as an emerging shot-blocking extraordinaire.

He, Irving, Luka Doncic, and the rest of the clear-contender Mavericks are now getting ready to face their first road test of the season when they battle the Phoenix Suns (1-0) — featuring three Duke basketball treasures in Tyus Jones, Grayson Allen, and Mason Plumlee — at 10 p.m. ET Saturday.

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