Mavs Seek Season-High Win Streak vs. Wizards After ‘Unbelievable’ Gafford Debut

After putting up 19 points and nine rebounds in just 17 minutes off the bench in his Dallas Mavericks debut, Daniel Gafford will now take on his former team, the Washington Wizards on Monday.

Dalton Trigg | Feb 12, 2024

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The Dallas Mavericks’ fan base is still riding a high after the dazzling debuts of newcomers Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington in Saturday’s blowout win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Now, for a potential encore performance, the Mavs will face Gafford’s former team, the Washington Wizards, on Monday night at American Airlines Center. Not only is this one interesting due to Gafford and Richaun Holmes playing against their former teams, but multiple reports stated that Dallas was close to getting Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma in a trade as well.

“They’re both pretty similar, both great players. To have those two guys on the team is unbelievable to me,” Luka Doncic said of Gafford and Washington. “Rebounding, blocking shots, dunking, the energy. [Gafford] brings a lot and I’m really happy he’s on our team.”

The Mavs (30-23) are riding a four-game win streak going into tonight’s matchup against the Wizards (9-43), and with a victory, they could push that streak to a season-high five games with one more game against the San Antonio Spurs coming before the All-Star break.

Gafford had nothing but nice things to say about the Wizards on his way out of town, but now, he’ll be looking to build on his 19-point, nine-rebound Dallas debut against them.

“Dear DC, In all honesty I'll forever be grateful and give thanks for the opportunity that was given to me here. Never thought it would have ended,” Gafford wrote in a farewell Instagram post to the Wizards.

Dazzling Debuts! Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington Breathe Life Into Mavs' Title Hopes

“From the first year of me being here it was all love and support no matter the outcome of any game. I'll cherish that forever. As I depart, I want to thank everyone that supported me, and pushed me to be the best I can be. The love I have for the city will never change. I don't want to get emotional but just know you all will be missed. Until Next time....”

You can catch tonight’s game on Bally Sports Southwest or NBA League Pass, and tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. CT. DallasBasketball.com will have extensive coverage throughout the day and into the late hours of the night.

Published Feb 12, 2024

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.