Daniel Gafford’s contributions on both ends of the floor proved critical down the stretch, as the Dallas Mavericks snapped a three-game skid and avoided a winless homestand with their 138-133 overtime defeat of the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Gafford, limited thus far in 2025-26 by an ankle injury, delivered a season-high 20 points, including four in the final seconds of the extra period for Dallas.
His free throws with 1:39 remaining gave the Mavericks the lead for good and ignited a 6-0 mini-run that effectively put the game away. During one sequence, Gafford rejected Shaedon Sharpe at the rim, then finished at the other end on a physical basket in the paint to give Dallas a five-point advantage.
Gafford’s block and bucket followed P.J. Washington’s thunderous dunk on a leakout, set up from Cooper Flagg’s outlet assist off a missed Sharpe 3-pointer.
Sharpe’s inability to score in the final minute and a half came at an inopportune time on an otherwise outstanding night for the Portland guard. He scored a season-high 36 points, just one shy of matching his career best, and dished six assists.
Sharpe was left shouldering the load after Deni Avdija, the Blazers’ season-long leading scorer, fouled out. Avdija finished with 29 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Flagg and Washington led the Mavericks with 21 points apiece. Brandon Williams and Max Christie added 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Portland’s scoring came almost entirely from its starting five, with Jerami Grant adding 26 points, Donovan Clingan scoring 16 and Toumani Camara chipping in 11. Clingan and Camara both recorded double-doubles with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
But while the Portland bench totaled just 15 points, Dallas reserves Klay Thompson, D’Angelo Russell and Naji Marshall scored 19, 12 and nine points, respectively, to support all five Mavericks starters scoring in double figures.
With the loss, Portland closes its five-game road swing at 1-4 with bookending back-to-back losses. The Blazers played Sunday without Jrue Holiday, who was a late scratch from the lineup with a sore right calf.
–Field Level Media
