‘Communication Could Have Been Better’: Daniel Gafford Scores Season-High 20 As Morez Johnson Jr. Sets Career High For Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS — Daniel Gafford scored a season-high 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting Monday night, but the Dallas Mavericks lost 115-100 to the Sacramento Kings at American Airlines Center.

Gafford also finished with 7 rebounds, a steal, and a block in 26 minutes, 21 seconds. He had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting at halftime, his first 15-point half since March 18, 2026, against Atlanta.

Two nights earlier, Gafford scored 18 in a 116-111 win over the Houston Rockets. It was the sixth time in his career he has put together back-to-back games of at least 18 points.

Three Kings guards scored more than 20 points Monday. Dallas’ big men had to help get the Mavericks’ guards over Sacramento’s screens, Gafford said.

“Like I said, just they were comfortable. They were getting pretty much whatever they wanted. They were getting downhill,” Gafford said. “Our guards were getting killed on some of the screens. So some of the communication kind of fell on our shoulders, like the big shoulders, trying to get them over those screens.”

“But they were just comfortable, all in all. They got whatever they wanted. They took the shots that they wanted,” Gafford continued. “They got the matchups that they wanted. They put everybody in the action that they seen to where they can go score on them.”

Rookie Morez Johnson Jr. added a career-high 13 points without missing a shot.

Daniel Gafford Reaches 20 On 90% Shooting For 13th Time

Monday marked Gafford’s 13th career 20-point game while shooting 90% or better from the field. Since he entered the NBA in 2019-20, only Jarrett Allen (16) and Rudy Gobert (14) have more.

The Washington Wizards traded Gafford to Dallas in February 2024. He has 16 career 20-point games with the Mavericks, compared to 7 before he arrived.

Gafford has also blocked a shot in each of Dallas’ first seven games, the first time he has opened a season that way. His previous best start was six games, a mark he reached against Houston on Oct. 30. Eight other Mavericks have recorded a block in each of their first seven games of a season.

Through six games, Gafford had averaged 8.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks. He also put some of Monday’s loss on himself for not communicating better once shots stopped falling.

“So it’s just, we just have to stick with it. Communication could have been better from probably me in certain areas, communicating to the guys that we’re feeling like shots weren’t falling, so it’s like, what else can I do?” Gafford explained. “But talking to the guys when that stuff happens, it’s just ways we can find ways to keep making impacts for the game.”

“If your shot’s not falling, we can get a stop on defense. If you come down, you can make a layup or something,” Gafford added. “So it’s just, we just have to get over that slump.”

Dallas went 7-of-33 from three. Gafford and Johnson combined to go 14-of-15 from the field, all of it inside the arc.

Dallas’ roll men scored 17 points on 10 pick-and-roll possessions, according to play-type tracking data reviewed by Dallas Sports Journal. The Mavericks also scored 7 points on four putbacks.

Morez Johnson Jr. Goes 5-Of-5 For A Career High

Johnson, the ninth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, played at Illinois and Michigan before Dallas selected him in June. He went 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-6 at the line in 17 minutes, 3 seconds, and he added 2 offensive rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

Nine of his points came in the first half. Johnson scored on a reverse layup in the first quarter and on a turnaround bank hook and a tip-in during the second. After halftime, he hit a 10-footer off a P.J. Washington pass and finished a driving dunk on a feed from Cooper Flagg with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter.

He entered Monday averaging 6.3 points on 53.3% shooting in 15.5 minutes across six games.

Johnson works every day, Gafford said, and pays attention to the details of what makes a player successful in the league.

“I feel like he’s developing into the player he wants to be, 100%. He works every day,” Gafford said. “He’s obviously really paying attention to details on what he can do to be successful in this league. Short roll, being a guy, a threat on the offensive glass, defensive glass, and being a threat defensively in general. So I’m proud of him. The sky’s the limit for him. He’s going to have a good career in this league.”

The Mavericks visit the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at Frost Bank Center. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.