With their win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, the Dallas Mavericks are now winners of seven consecutive games and have surged out of the play-in race and into 6th place in the crowded-as-ever Western Conference. Amidst that seven game winning streak are four consecutive wins since acquiring PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford at the NBA Trade Deadline. Against the Suns, the contributions of Washington and Gafford were minimal. They combined for just 16 points in the 123-113 win. However, when you join a team that already has Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving on the roster, it's likely that those are the two guys who are handling the heavy lifting.

Against Phoenix, Doncic and Irving combined for 70 points on 25-for-45 shooting, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe and 11-for-19 from three-point range. It was Luka Doncic's eighth game of the season with a 40-point double-double, and after the game, Daniel Gafford made his unofficial mid-season MVP vote very clear.

“To me, he's the MVP,” Gafford said after the game when asked about his new teammate Luka Doncic (h/t Tim McMahon of ESPN). “Seeing the things he does and Kyrie does, I'm just amazed. It's like I'm a kid of the candy store because I'm seeing two great players just go out and dominate.”

Instead of a Butterfinger, Kyrie Irving is dishing out Anklebreakers. Rather than grabbing a Snickers when he's angry, Luka Doncic is hitting Stepbacks. And when defenses sell out to stop Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, Gafford and his new Mavericks teammates will be feasting on Hershey's Kisses and Twix's and Kit-Kat's in the form of open layups and uncontested jumpers. In four appearances with the Mavs, Gafford is averaging 12 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per game in only 20 minutes of action a night.

The Mavericks will look to extend their winning streak to eight games on Sunday afternoon when they visit former head coach Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers.