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Daniel Gafford's 'Dunked'On' Critics? They Don't Understand Mavs Success
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- Daniel Gafford's 'Dunked'On' Critics? They Don't Understand Mavs Success
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Daniel Gafford has become the NBA's "poster" child and not in the flattering sense of the phrase.
Giannis Antetokounmpo got him Monday in Miami. Kevin Durant got him Friday in Dallas, driving past P.J. Washington, rising over Gafford at the rim, finishing with one hand and staring him down while the Rockets bench erupted. NBA accounts on X spent the weekend posting compilations of Gafford getting dunked on.
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That has been his reputation for years. He contests everything, which means he ends up in more highlights than centers who concede the lane.
It also means people miss what he is actually doing.
Gafford currently leads the NBA in rim field-goal percentage allowed versus expected, holding opponents 22.1 percentage points below their expected conversion rate at the basket while defending six rim attempts per game, according to data compiled from NBA.com and PBP Stats. Nobody in the league is better in that category right now.
The Durant dunk is a good illustration of why the perception and reality diverge. Washington got beaten off the dribble, Gafford rotated over to meet a 38-year-old future Hall of Famer at the rim and Durant made a difficult shot. That sequence shows up as a poster. The dozens of possessions in which Gafford's presence turns a layup into a miss or forces a pass out do not.
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Friday also happened to be his best game of the season. Gafford finished with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 29 minutes as Dallas rallied past Houston 116-111 behind 35 points from Kyrie Irving and 33 from Cooper Flagg. He finished with a plus-10 rating.
Gafford has also carried the bulk of the center minutes with Dereck Lively II and Santi Aldama still sidelined, leaving Dallas to lean on Moussa Cisse and rookie Morez Johnson Jr. behind him.
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That has mattered on a roster this young. Dallas has Flagg at 19, Johnson and Sergio de Larrea as rookies, and Zaccharie Risacher at 21. Gafford is 28 and in his eighth season, making him one of the few players in the rotation with significant experience.
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He also played a central role in the 2024 Finals run, which carries weight in a locker room that has started 4-2 and is learning what it can be.
Nobody is going to stop making highlight compilations of Gafford getting dunked on. Durant and Antetokounmpo are two of the best scorers in NBA history, and they attack the rim because most centers get out of the way.
Gafford does not. That is why the videos exist, and it is also why Dallas has one of the better defenses in the league.
