‘A Switch, A Flip’: Daniel Gafford Reveals What Changed For Dallas Mavericks In Near-Comeback Against San Antonio Spurs

DALLAS — Down 19 points early in the third quarter Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks outscored the San Antonio Spurs 60-44 after halftime and had the ball with a chance to win before falling 112-111 at Frost Bank Center.

On Thursday, center Daniel Gafford went on 105.3 The Fan’s K&C Masterpiece and went back over what changed for Dallas after halftime.

San Antonio led 68-51 at the break behind 29 first-half points from Victor Wembanyama, who finished with career highs of 52 points and 24 rebounds. With 5:38 left, a 3-pointer from P.J. Washington put Dallas ahead 103-100. Naji Marshall tied the game at 111 with a 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining.

Wembanyama’s free throw with 24.2 seconds left put the Spurs back in front. Kyrie Irving, who led Dallas with 29 points, missed a contested turnaround jumper in the lane in the final seconds.

Daniel Gafford On The Dallas Mavericks’ Second-Half Push

Dallas won the third quarter 29-22 and the fourth 31-22. San Antonio shot 5-of-36 from 3-point range for the game.

Two nights earlier, the Mavericks lost 115-100 at home to the Sacramento Kings. The level Dallas played at in the second half Wednesday is the same one it found during the wins that came before the current two-game losing streak, according to Gafford.

“We unlocked that level of that,” Gafford said. “The few games that we won before we had like this two-game losing streak, we unlocked that level of play that we were playing with. And we all took that next step in that right direction. And it’s just guys were focused. The communication was contagious. Everybody was talking to each other. We were trying to stay encouraged throughout the game because granted the first half wasn’t the best for us.”

“And it was either, and I say it all the time, and a lot of other guys say it on the team too, it’s all about how we respond,” Gafford continued. “First half can be terrible, shots may not fall, but at the end of the day, the one thing that can fix all of that stuff is defense. Rebounding the basketball, being physical, all of the above.”

“I remember after I came out, I just sensed this like a switch, a flip,” Gafford added. “And guys were just completely locked in. They were talking to each other. We were like, we’re going to figure it out. And one thing we knew that if we worked hard enough, they were going to let us back in the game. And that’s what they did.”

Dallas grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 28 second-chance points. San Antonio’s biggest lead was 19, and the Mavericks’ biggest was 3.

Gafford On Shaking Off A Rough Night

Gafford finished with 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks on 1-of-6 shooting. Through 8 starts, he is averaging 9.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 67.4% from the field.

With his own shot not falling, Gafford spent Wednesday night looking for a way to give his teammates energy from the bench.

“Oh, yeah, 100%,” Gafford explained. “Even just with how hard those guys played last night, the main thing that I want to do is make sure I motivated them the best way I could. If I can’t do it on the floor, I can do it on the sideline. It’s just, I just want to be able to find some type of way to give guys energy, and I was on the bench last night for sure.”

Earlier in his career, a couple of missed easy shots would get Gafford down for the rest of a game. He is in his eighth NBA season and his third with Dallas, which acquired him from the Washington Wizards in February 2024.

“Right now, in my career, I have that second mentality that you explained,” Gafford said. “I used to always get really down if I missed a couple of easy shots here and there. But throughout the course of the game, you never know when the tides can change in your favor, whether you can force the tides to change or it just happens automatically. It happens naturally.”

“And just really now is just more focused on the next thing,” Gafford noted. “And if you make a mistake, learn from it, be better from it, be better than that mistake that you made because that’s not going to make the whole game for you. One turnover is not going to cause the end of the world if it’s earlier, early enough in the game or like the five-minute mark or one missed shot or you get your shot blocked or just something happens to where it causes just like that little bit of sense of frustration.”

“So when it comes to that, you just have to really just focus on just pretty much what’s ahead,” Gafford detailed. “That’s the only time where I’ll say just focus on what’s ahead. Because if we really focus and dwell on something that happened in the first quarter, down in the fourth, it’s not going to be a good ending for you.”

Dallas (4-4) hosts the Utah Jazz in an NBA Cup group-stage game Friday at American Airlines Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT.