A developing battle to watch

The 2023-2024 NBA season had its first week with some good games, with the Western Conference still having the most number of contending teams, particularly the Phoenix Suns, the Golden State Warriors, the LA Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and the defending champions Denver Nuggets.  Not to be overlooked are the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio   Spurs.

The LA Lakers are still groping around when Nikola Jokic did the Serbian shake on them and dominated Anthony Davis.  LAL struggled in their second game, almost losing the undermanned Suns if not for an older guy who ruled the end game.  They again went pfft in their third game against the Sacramento Kings.

Fans were in anticipation of the Texas shootout between San Antonio and Dallas that both featured 7-foot rookies, which didn’t disappoint.

The hype that was Victor Wembanyama did not fail in his season opener but because of foul trouble, he was outplayed by Dereck Lively II.

Lively came off the bench for Dallas and in 31 minutes of playing time, had 16 points in 7-of-8 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and a block in a win over the Spurs.  Wembanyama had 15 points in that losing effort.

Lively played a season of college ball for Duke University and applied for the NBA draft where he was picked 12th overall by OKC but traded to Dallas for Latvian big man Davis Bertans and rookie guard Cason Wallace.

In his next game, Lively started for the Mavericks and had 9 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting in a win over Brooklyn.  Wembanyama had a more dominating second game.  The French tower had 21 points, 12 boards, 3 blocks and 3 steals in an overtime win against Houston.

San Antonio has a history of drafting successful big men that brought them multiple titles (David Robinson and Tim Duncan).  Wembanyama could be following the path they had made.  Dallas had produced the two best German imports in Dirk Nowitzki and Detlef Schrempf but they never had a consistent and dominating inside presence like the trio of Roy Tarpley, James Donaldson and Sam Perkins during the 80s.

San Antonio and Dallas will meet again on December 24, February 14 and March 19 and the matchup between Derek Lively II and Victor Wembanyama is a developing battle to watch.