Gafford sprains left ankle during 119-104 loss to Grizzlies

MEMPHIS – Not long after the Dallas Mavericks’ 119-104 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum on Monday night, coach Jason Kidd found himself addressing yet another injury to yet another key player on his roster.

This time it was center Daniel Gafford who the injury bug bit after he sprained his left ankle early in the second quarter when he collided with Grizzlies forward John Konchar while the two were chasing a loose ball. Gafford hobbled to the locker room and did not return, and the Mavs were never the same after his departure.

The Mavs were already without guards Luka Dončić (left calf strain), Kyrie Irving (lumbar back sprain) and Dante Exum (right wrist surgery). The injury to Gafford made things even more difficult for the team from North Texas, who dropped their season-high fifth consecutive game and saw their record dip to 20-16.

“We’ll see how (Gafford) feels, but he’s probably going to be out for some time,” Kidd said. “But that’s just part of the game. And unfortunately, it’s happening to us.

“It seems like we’re losing a guy each day. So, the next-man-up mentality.”

The Mavs were ahead, 41-32, when Gafford went down with 8:26 remaining before halftime. After that, the Grizzlies went on an 18-7 run and took a 50-48 lead following a three-pointer and a two-pointer by Jay Huff.

Compound that with the fact the Grizzlies attempted 35 free throws to just 15 for the Mavs, and it was no wonder the Mavs were swimming upstream after they lost Gafford. Kidd described the second quarter — when Memphis outscored the Mavs, 30-19 – as a combination of “fouls and bad shots” which the Mavs were unable to overcome.

“For us we’ve got to be better offensively,” Kidd said. “We thought we set the tone there in that first quarter, and then in that second (quarter) we had some looks that just didn’t go down when the ball touched the paint.

“But also the fouls — they were in the bonus and we just couldn’t get out of that hole. A lot of fouls were called tonight.”

Although the Grizzlies were without superstar point guard Ja Morant – he missed his fifth straight game with a right AC joint sprain – Mavs center Dereck Lively II noted that he and his teammates didn’t put up a good enough defensive front to win this game.

“We weren’t strung together (and) we weren’t talking with one another,” said Lively, who had 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. “We were letting them play the basketball they wanted, not the defense we wanted to play.”

Mavs forward P. J. Washington agreed with the analysis by Kidd and Lively.

“Obviously, we got to do a better job of not fouling and keeping guys in front of us and just playing better on that end,” said Washington, who finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. “I think that slowed our pace on the offensive end, and obviously we lost because of it.

“Obviously, Gaff getting hurt (did) hurt us. I think this is a game we should have won, obviously. If we played a little better we could have had a different outcome.”

The Mavs led, 36-26, after the first quarter behind nine points from Washington. They also held a 12-point lead early in the second quarter.

But with Jaren Jackson Jr. collecting 35 points, 13 rebounds and three steals, and Scotty Pippen Jr, adding 18 points and five steals, the Grizzlies led 56-55 at halftime and 87-80 after three quarters.

A pair of three-pointers off the bench from Jaden Hardy (15 points) helped jump-start the Mavs’ offense in the fourth quarter. Then, after Hardy blocked a Jaylen Wells shot, that directly led to a three-pointer by Klay Thompson (15 points), the Mavs were within 97-92 with 7:22 remaining.

However, the Grizzlies reloaded and outscored the Mavs, 22-12, the balance of the game and went on to boost their won-loss record to 24-13.

“We had some turnovers that led to fast break points or fouling them in the transition, and they got free throws,” Kidd said. “But we had some good looks. It just didn’t go down for us tonight.

“Then, we got to probably do a better job of getting to the free throw line. They got to the free throw line 35 times. In that fourth quarter we got it down (to five points), but we got to take care of the ball.”

The Mavs also were not able to control Jackson, who was 13-of-23 from the field and nabbed five offensive rebounds.

“He puts a lot of pressure on the defense,” Kidd said. “I thought we did a good job of containing him, making it tough. He earned his points tonight. But he was really good.”

The Mavs welcomed the return of forward Naji Marshall, who was suspended from the previous four games by the NBA for his involvement in an incident against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 27. Marshall responded against the Grizzlies with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals.

“You can’t be mad at that,” said Lively, referring to Marshall’s production. “He was just being in there, he was talking to us on defense, giving us extra energy and extra effort, and he was able to pick up a couple of deflections and a couple of steals and he got us going in the first and second (quarters).”

Unfortunately, the Mavs weren’t able to have a great overall response on a night when they shot just 40.8 percent from the field and dropped to 0-4 this season in games when both Dončić and Irving are out.

“It’s been tough obviously dealing with injuries the whole season,” Washington said. “But at the end of the day we’re all professionals, so we’ve got to come in here and work and just be ready for your opportunity.

“It’s tough when a lot of your good players are out. It’s part of the game and you just got to play through it. We just got to be better on the defensive end, and I feel like we can win games no matter who’s on the floor.”

The Mavs will try and snap their five-game losing streak when they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center. It’s a Laker squad that picked up former Mavs forward Dorian Finney-Smith in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets last week and added him to a roster that already includes superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

“They’ve got LeBron and AD, so you got to deal with that pick-and-roll,” Kidd said. “As we watch the tape (of the Lakers) tonight we got to find a way to slow those guys down.

“And Dorian adds another defender and another three-point shooter.”

Meanwhile, the Mavs are just keeping their fingers crossed for the day to come when they’ll have a totally healthy roster. In the meantime, Lively said:

“No matter who’s on the floor, no matter who’s hurt, we got to lift each other up. We got to lean on the next man (and) we got to be able to step up.

“There are times where we’re going to look at each other and be like, ‘Now what?’ But that’s not going to get us to where we want to be. We got to learn from mistakes, learn from what we’re doing, and get better.”

X: @DwainPrice