The Dallas Mavericks played the Denver Nuggets for the second straight game on Tuesday night, with the Nuggets jumping out to a massive 26-point halftime lead after winning the first game on Sunday. Part of building that big lead was the Mavs’ elimination early in the first quarter.

Dereck Lively II twisted his ankle while rebounding against Nikola Jokic and left the game a few minutes later for his normal substitution. He would go back to the locker room, where he would almost immediately be ruled out for the rest of the game with a right ankle sprain.

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Lively scored four points in the four minutes he played, and Daniel Gafford and Dwight Powell couldn’t keep up with DeAndre Jordan, let alone Nikola Jokic. Jamal Murray was the main reason for the big lead, but Dallas couldn’t get any stops without Lively on the field.

This is just another injury in a long line of injuries for the Mavs this season. They just got Kyrie Irving back after he was out for five games with a back injury in this game, but he only had to be on the floor for four minutes before someone else went down. Luka Doncic is still out with a calf strain, Dante Exum didn’t play after preseason wrist surgery, almost everyone is dealing with an illness, Klay Thompson has missed a few games with a plantar fascia, and Lively has missed games with various ailments. Hopefully it’s like Daniel Gafford’s ankle sprain last week and he doesn’t miss much time.

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