Two hyper-defensive-minded freshmen will be going at it on their respective teams Monday night.
The 7-foot-1 center, Dereck Lively II, and the Dallas Mavericks will host the Orlando Magic and its 6-foot-7 guard Anthony Black.
This is the second and final matchup between the two teams this season, where Dallas claimed the first win in Orlando back in early November.
A 117-102 victory flanked by Lively's 10 points on 80% shooting, five rebounds and a block trumped the Magic, as Black – who'd earned a starting bid in the contest – would add an eight-point, five-rebound, two-assist outing himself in the lass.
As the No. 12 pick in last summer's draft, Lively has burst onto the scene as a highly valuable player for Dallas – fulfilling a role the Mavericks have needed and has done it fluently as just a player in his rookie season.
On the year, Lively averages 8.9 points on an extremely efficient 73.2% from the field – averaging the highest shooting efficiency amongst all rookies who've played a minimum of five games – along with 7.8 rebounds in 35 games and 34 starts.
Six spots up in the same draft, Black was taken at No. 6 last summer to Orlando, and has also fulfilled a strong role to fortify their fifth-ranked defense in the league.
He's assumed a decent-sized role as well for his team, logging a lesser 15.6 minutes per game compared to the two months prior (20.9 in November and 23.1 in December) but is still providing his utility.
This season, Black is putting up five points on 48.2% shooting, also adding 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists a night.
Both Orlando and Dallas sit in the eighth seed in their conferences, as each are looking to create some sort of separation in a season where seeding is very tight-knit – and especially in the West.
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