Mavericks injury report: Lively questionable, Washington out against Chicago

The Dallas Mavericks will likely be without two key contributors on Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls. Wednesday morning’s injury report for the matchup against the Bulls lists center Dereck Lively as questionable with a shoulder injury and forward PJ Washington as out with a right knee sprain.

Lively injured his shoulder during warmups before Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers. Trainer Jason Kidd said Lively would get an MRI on her shoulder and ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said sources told him the team has “expressed optimism that it’s not a significant injury.” Lively was originally listed as questionable in earlier injury reports for this game.

It’s unclear when Washington’s injury occurred, as he played 35 minutes Monday night against the Pacers and finished the game without being taken out of the game or taking an early exit to the locker.

Without Lively and Washington, it will fall more on starter Daniel Gafford and the rest of the Mavericks bench stepping up. Gafford struggled against the Pacers, but should be more comfortable against Chicago’s more traditional lineups, even if the Bulls shoot more threes than previous seasons. Naji Marshall will likely replace Washington in the starting lineup, especially after his spectacular 20-point, five-rebound, six-assist performance against Indiana on Monday.

The biggest questions the Mavericks need to answer is who will step up behind Gafford and Marshall. Dwight Powell is currently the only other big on the roster, and Dallas will need to mix and match Powell, Marshall and other bench pieces like Quintin Grimes to keep things flowing while Lively and Washington are out.

The rest of the report isn’t surprising since Maxi Kleber is still out with his hamstring injury and Dante Exum is still recovering from his wrist surgery. Dallas tips off at home against Chicago at 7:30 p.m