Mavs’ Daniel Gafford Speaks After Win vs. Heat: Mar. 7, 2024

Mavs’ Daniel Gafford Speaks After Win vs. Heat: Mar. 7, 2024

Did defense a little more you’re liking at least in the last three quarters oh yeah yeah most definitely um I feel like you know we came out with an edge in that second quarter you know it was a 22-point quarter I felt like we did everything we kind of needed to do just

Pretty much which stand that first punch that they threw in the first going into this having lost the first two games on this home stand how critical did you guys view this game oh most definitely it was a must-win you know we came out and the message was you

Know this is one of the ones that we need most definitely because I mean we’re playing for something we’re playing for a position to be able to make the playoff run that we want to so really just tonight we just can’t we just had to just come out with the

Mindset that it’s going to be a tough one for sure especially with this rough gritty Miami team we had to really come out and stay locked in last game you talked about the overall effort and communication on defense what was your assessment tonight I feel like we did a

Lot better from the last two games that we’ve had of course you know it was areas where we kind of got to a point to where it wasn’t any communication but we took the next step forward and got to a point to where it was like we’re there

For each other at the end of the day we stayed kind of together you know it was a lot of frustration I got frustrated in the first quarter felt like I wasn’t doing the things that I needed to do teammates came and pretty much pushed me forward instead of making me like

Letting me take a step backward for sure so tonight we for sure stayed together as a team as a unit just kind of like let all the stuff happen that happened throughout the game you know left that behind us and had explain mentality I would say how do you build upon that

When because you said it was a must win how do you make sure um yourself and the and your teammates sustain that effort going forward um I would just say was just communication on and off the floor you know through the coaching staff and the players um every day every night um

Every minute every second counts at the end of the day and every possession counts in these games so if we worry about The Possession before or possession that happened at the beginning of the game or anything like that it’s something that kind of ties in

And kind of sucks the energy out of the team so at the end of the day we just like I said stayed together we made sure we comforted the guys that needed it we made sure we pushed the guys that needed it at the end of the day got guys out of

Their head got them out of their Funk and just went out and had fun with the game you know Derek Jones and uh PJ I was having a conversation with them at the end of the game and I was just saying they were just saying just like

You got to stay having fun with the game because if you get to a point to where it’s like you don’t have fun with try to control everything you get frustrated and that’s kind of like how it felt with me in the first quarter so those were

Stuck with me for sure Daniel Jason talked about you guys getting ready for your next match up against Detroit no matter what the record looks like what does it say about you all in the league when you respect the team no matter what the record is I mean they’re an NBA team

Just like any other team you know they’re going to come out with you know their eyes on the prize and that’s to come out and win a basketball game so we just can’t take that for granted at the end of the day we can’t just come out

And just like think that they’re just going to lay down and just give us a win that’s not going to happen at all are you uh happy with the way you guys handled the physicality and and how much that did that help on the defensively it helped us a lot because fighting against

A team like this Miami you mean you got to give credit to where credit is Du these guys are tough they come out every night they put their bodies on the line and their energy is just out of this world when it comes to just like their

Defensive effort you know they’re in the passing Lanes they’re in the right spots at the right times and they’re a very well- conditioned team I would say so at the end of the day we just had to come out and just kind of like hold Our poise

Because we knew it was going to be just like a rough game from the start

Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford spoke to reporters after the team’s win over the Miami Heat on March 7, 2024.

Video Credit: Dallas Mavericks

X: https://twitter.com/GrantAfseth
Facebook: https://facebook.com/GrantGAfseth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GrantAfseth
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/grantafseth

Check out my full Dallas Mavericks coverage on https://DallasBasketball.com for daily updates, analysis, and exclusive interviews. Check out my NBA work at https://NBAAnalysis.net.