Gafford played well in his return to Washington

WASHINGTON – Daniel Gafford was glad to be back in his old stomping grounds on Thursday night. But he’s also glad to be in his new stomping grounds.

Gafford played for the Washington Wizards from 2021 until they traded him to the Dallas Mavericks Feb. 8 for Richaun Holmes and draft compensation. And since his arrival with the Mavs, Gafford has been one of his team’s prime-time players who have contributed mightily to their success.

“It feels good just to be back,” Gafford said. “I felt like it was still the same for me.

“The guys said they missed me. I missed the guys as well. This is all love being back in this building.”

Gafford showed his old team what they missed as he collected 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks Thursday night during the Mavs’ 137-101 win over the Wizards at Capital One Arena. He also was 6-of-9 from the field in just 19 minutes.

After the game, Gafford huddled up with some of the Wizards – a tradition he did after games when he played with them.

“It was just the usual prayer we used to always do when I was here,” Gafford said. “I, of course, love the guys that are here. Some of those guys were big factors of how I hold myself to that.

“They put a lot of motivation in me, they kept me going — and just the player that I am today — they were there for me 100 percent. They pushed me to just be the player that I am today.”

No offense to the Wizards, but Gafford was overly pleased they traded him to a Mavs’ squad that advanced to last season’s NBA Finals.

“It always feels great to be in a better situation, but I always remember the good days from the storm that I was in, and having those guys with me just helped me get through that storm,” he said. “It’s something that I’ll always cherish.”

The Mavs have won 10 of their last 11 games and have a 15-8 record, while the Wizards are 2-18 and have lost 16 straight games. But Gafford believes the Wizards will eventually get things turned around in their favor – and he offered some sage advice.

“(They need) just a higher level of consistency, I would say, for the staff and to the players,” he said. “It takes that, it takes a lot of repetition, a lot of accountability throughout the organization just to kind of push each other just to be at the level that you want to be at.

“I know every single one of those guys over there who literally do that on a day-to-day basis. So, I know for a fact the ball is going to get rolling for them.”

MAVS HAVE ROUGH SCHEDULE: Mavs coach Jason Kidd was not complaining about his team’s schedule, but the Mavs have almost circled the NBA globe in recent weeks.

“The schedule is messed up,” Kidd said after Thursday’s game against the Wizards. “It’s something that needs to be looked at if they want the competition to be fair. The schedule has been messed up since we’ve gone West to go East. Going to Denver to Miami to Atlanta, home for one, out to Utah and Portland on a back-to-back. And then back home for a Cup game, and then come here and then up to Toronto.

“So, we’ve gone as far as you can go West and now we’re going to go as far as we can go East. We’re not going to complain about it. It is what it is, but it’s not fair if you want players to play. So, when guys sit out, they can’t complain when guys sit out when you have a schedule like this. But we’re going to play them, and guys are going to play, but they have to look at this because the schedule is not right for us to have to do this.”

X: @DwainPrice