Dallas Basketball

Dallas Mavs' Daniel Gafford Channels Los Angeles Lakers Great Kobe Bryant Ahead of NBA Playoffs

The Dallas Mavericks have officially clinched a spot in the NBA playoffs, but big man Daniel Gafford isn't celebrating just yet. He says his team must continue to "take care of business" until the job is done.

Dalton Trigg

USA TODAY Sports
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The Dallas Mavericks clinched a spot in the NBA playoffs after a blowout win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, and they can clinch a 50-win season and their fifth division title in franchise history with a win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Dallas has morphed into the best defensive team in the league over its last 15 games and has loads of momentum heading into the postseason.

All of that is nice, but the Mavs aren't satisfied with just getting to the playoffs. After Tuesday's win, big man Daniel Gafford, who finished with 26 points (12-12 FG), seven rebounds and two blocks, expressed how his team still wants something more by channeling the late, great Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

“I’m pretty sure everybody is excited," Gafford said in his postgame interview with Bally Sports Southwest. "It’s a business, so we've got to make sure to take care of business down the road. We can be excited, but in the great words of Kobe Bryant, God rest his soul, ‘The job’s not done until it’s done.'"

The Mavs are talking like true title contenders, and the numbers they've posted over the last 15 games back that talk up. During this span, where Dallas has gone 13-2, it has the No. 1 defensive rating (105.3), No. 7 offensive rating (117.1) and No. 2 in net rating (11.8). Being a top-10 team in both offense and defense is key to becoming a true title contender, and the Mavs looked the part since trading for Gafford and P.J. Washington.

"We're not satisfied to say this is our best," Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said. "Hopefully this is just the start of our journey. ... When guys are having fun playing defense, you have a chance."

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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

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