DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks earned a 113-97 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night. Dunks were the story of the game, as the Mavs set a new franchise record with 18, per the Mavericks on X (formerly Twitter). Daniel Gafford, who has been an excellent addition after the team acquired him before the trade deadline, finished with 10 dunks of his own.
Gafford ultimately went 10-11 from the field and had 24 points overall. He added six rebounds in the win.
“Yeah, it was like one of those Wilt (Chamberlain) nights,” head coach Jason Kidd said of Gafford's performance on Thursday. “10-for-11. I'm trying to figure out which shot he missed. I don't know which one they credited him with a miss. That's tough at home. But I think, again, that's what he brings. The quarterbacks love finding him.
“He has great hands, his ability to finish in traffic is something that we haven't had… But just dominating the paint on both ends. I thought we did a really good job of rebounding the ball and not giving them second or third opportunities tonight.”
The Mavericks win when Daniel Gafford starts
Dallas finds ways to earn victories when Gafford starts games. The Mavs big man has started 10 games since joining the team, and Dallas has won nine of those contests.
Scoring points in the paint was crucial on Thursday. Dallas shot just 31.2 percent from beyond the arc, but they finished with 62 points in the paint. Gafford set the tone in that regard and he addressed the importance of scoring near the basket with the playoffs right around the corner.
“In all honesty, just keep doing what we're doing at the end of the day,” Gafford said following Thursday's win. “There's a lot of teams that really, I would say, focus on paint points for sure. There's a lot of teams that focus on defense in the paint too. So it's just like we have to know our personnel and we're going to just have to really stick to our gameplan whenever we go against teams that are bad at paint defense and when we're going against the teams that are good at paint defense.
“At the end of the day, you know, we just have to I would say pay attention to details when it comes to those teams and the differences, just like, what gets thrown at us defensively on a night-to-night basis.”
Mavs forward Derrick Jones Jr. echoed a similar sentiment when I asked him a similar question.
“A big role,” Jones responded. “As much as we get in the paint, and we finish in the paint they got to leave the three open a little bit. They got to sink in and that's when shooters knock it down.”
Kyrie Irving's epic dunk
Gafford stole the show when it came to dunks on Thursday. However, Kyrie Irving had a highlight of his own.
Irving received a lob from Luka Doncic in transition and he made the most of the opportunity, throwing down an epic dunk.
“Some of my teammates were laughing at me a few weeks ago when I told them ‘throw me a lob,'” Irving told reporters. “Guess who's laughing now.”
Irving also addressed the value of scoring points in the paint. Again, the Mavericks are capable of shooting the three-ball well, but they have moved away from completely relying on it in recent action. Irving thinks it's “vital” that Dallas continues to utilize the “most efficient shot in basketball,” which are shots near the basket.
“It's vital for us to continue to attack the paint,” Irving said. “Test teams at the rim. It is the most efficient shot in basketball… I just want to continue to have that mentality to attack other teams. If you're not going to stop us, then keep going. I think it can help us tremendously as we get ready for playoffs.”
The Mavs will have a few days off before starting a five game road trip on Monday with a rematch against the Jazz in Utah.
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