Dereck Lively II made the Dallas Mavericks' front office look good Wednesday night. The rookie center, who landed with the Mavs via a draft day trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder last July, shined in his NBA debut against the San Antonio Spurs, even outplaying Victor Wembanyama in Dallas' 126-119 win.

“It was a lot more than I expected,” Lively said about his performance (via Dalton Trigg of Sports Illustrated). “They're a great team, it was a great crowd, lot of fans, lot of noise. But I feel like we just stuck together, we stuck to our principles … and we came out with the win. We learned a lot.”

Lively gave the Mavs a shot in the arm, particularly in the fourth quarter. He came away with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench while connecting on seven of his eight shots from the field. From the looks of it, there's a good chance Lively would earn a starting gig sooner than later. He's still got a lot to prove, but he definitely had a great start to his NBA career.

“I just try to go out there and take it play-by-play,” Lively added. “If I get a bucket, that's what I'm happy about. If I get someone else a bucket, I'm even happier. I'm just out there to make sure the score goes up and make sure we come out with the win.”

For what it's worth, Wembanyama scored 15 points with five rebounds, two steals, and two assists in 23 minutes versus the Mavs.