Through seven games of the NBA season, your Dallas Mavericks are the proud owners of a sparkling 6-1 record. The road to such an impressive start hasn’t always been a smooth one, but there are a ton of positive things that help explain how they’ve managed to pull this off. Massively improved clutch play, hot three-point shooting, and the brilliance of Luka Doncic have all contributed to this strong start. The wing additions of Grant Williams and Derrick Jones Jr. look to be incredibly savvy free-agent pickups.
But the biggest X-factor, one that seemed wholly improbable even a month ago, has been the play of rookie big man Dereck Lively II.