NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 14, 2024

Dereck Lively II

Dallas Mavericks

Game 4: Postgame

Dallas Mavericks 122, Boston Celtics 84

Q. You're 20 years old in the NBA Finals. You go out and do what you did tonight. Can you put into words how you're feeling right now?

DERECK LIVELY II: I'm not comfortable. We got to win. We got to have a lot more wins. We got to win a lot more of the little battles. Got to stay disciplined. We just got to replicate what we did this game. Do it the next one.

Q. What is in your postgame shake you got there?

DERECK LIVELY II: A mix between a bunch of fruits -- not vegetables -- bunch of fruits, and just some recovery stuff. Making sure by body don't cramp or anything like that.

Q. Two years ago this team made the Western Conference Finals. What does it feel like to be inserted into this situation and have such a role in this team so early and have the confidence from everybody in this organization?

DERECK LIVELY II: They're my family. We've developed a lot of trust with one another, a lot of chemistry. That trust just comes down to if you get blown by, they know I have their back. Just at the same time, I know if I got blown by, I got people behind me to back me up. It's really just doing whatever up can to make sure whenever one steps, we're all stepping with him.

Q. Could you have ever imagined that, even though you shoot three-pointers every practice, that you're going to make your first one Game 4 of the NBA Finals?

DERECK LIVELY II: It's for her. She helped me make it. She's going to help me make a lot more. She helped me make the free throw. She helped me make reads.

I'm just happy for having Luka pass me the ball in that position. I'm happy I knocked it down. Just got to be able to make the next one.

Q. What are the chances we're going to see more of them in the series?

DERECK LIVELY II: If they leave me open in the corner, I'm going to get them up, for sure. It's just having that trust. Luka is going to give me the ball. As soon as I shot it, he kind of jumped for joy when it went in. Just having that reaction from my teammates is just amazing. Makes you want to just learn, just practice and just do more.

Q. Only two 20-year-olds have had multiple double-doubles: you and Magic Johnson. What have you learned about yourself in this Finals run?

DERECK LIVELY II: Whatever doesn't kill you really makes you stronger. No matter how many times you get hit, knocked down, get up, get up harder than you got knocked down. Hit them harder than they hit you.

Just trying to, like I always say, throw the first punch. What it really comes down to is when you get punched, are you going to throw one back or are you just going to concede?

Q. Did you get a feel for the way that the crowd reacted when you let that three go, when it splashed?

DERECK LIVELY II: As I jogged down, I slowly heard it. It kept getting louder and louder. Whenever you have the fans hyped like that, backing you up, it makes you want to play that much more free, with that much more energy.

Q. It's obviously your rookie season. We saw a bit of O Max who has been in this rookie season with you. What was it like for you to see him get a chance to play tonight?

DERECK LIVELY II: I'm happy he was able to get out there, feel the energy, feel everything about the experience. He hasn't been able to step on the floor for a long time now because he has been hurt.

Just going out there, I was telling him to slow down, just enjoy it, feel your way through this game. Don't rush anything, just feel your way through the game, find little holes, absorb it all.

I know he did. I know he's thinking about a lot of things, but I got a lot of trust in O Max.

Q. Coming into this series, one of the storylines was how little Finals experience this Mavericks team has. Now you have four games. What would you say is the mindset of the team now versus maybe two weeks ago, maybe a comfort ability level that you all might share?

DERECK LIVELY II: I wouldn't say it's comfortability. I feel like we go out there and we play like we're desperate. That's the mentality we need to have in these games, going out there doing whatever you can to win. No matter if you're diving out of bounds, diving at the ball, chesting up with somebody, trying to be aggressive and strong.

A lot of this playoff season, playoff series, has just been finding out who we are, finding how much can we get hit and then throw one back. It's definitely been an enjoyable time to just see my teammates and myself just grow and adapt with one another with what's going on on the floor.

Q. Luka, his defensive game was picked apart through the first three games of the series in terms of people observing what was going on. He has three steals tonight. As a team you played great defense. Was there any change in his approach or execution that helped you guys be able to compete as a unit?

DERECK LIVELY II: You know, he trusts us. He trusts us to know he's going to play the best defense he can with as much energy as he's got. If they get by him, he knows we're going to back him up. He knows exactly what we're going to do and how we have his back.

Only thing I told him, Look, going out there, first two times you get fouled, don't say nothing to the refs. That's all I got. Just please don't do that, and I'll make sure you get open, make sure you're going be comfortable on the offensive and defensive end.

So just knowing that whenever he is going out there playing defense and he's locked in on defense, he just makes everything fall into place better on the offensive end.

Q. How was the locker room after such a big win? How can you guys get ready for that hostile environment in Boston?

DERECK LIVELY II: I wouldn't say we're overly happy. We enjoyed this win. But we're not jumping for joy. We got to win. We do what we need to do for this game. Now it's getting into Game 5.

We're going into another hostile environment. Now we just got to take from what we did this game, learn to how they're going to adapt to this game, do whatever we can to emulate, make this happen again.