The amazing 10-day run that Daniel Gafford has been on leaves him with a piece of history that hardly anybody else can claim.
He’s mentioned in the same sentence as Wilt Chamberlain.
The oft-forgotten Big Dipper, who still deserves to be mentioned in any greatest-of-all-time arguments, made 35 consecutive shots back in 1967.
Gafford made 33 in a row before a tough putback try on Thursday at Oklahoma City careened off the rim.
He’s No. 2 on the list, right behind Wilt.
And he wants more.
“I’m smiling ear-to-ear on the inside just because I had a chance to do it,” Gafford said after the 126-119 loss to the Thunder. “And it’s not my only chance. I’m for sure going to try to do that before the regular season is over.
“It’s something I patted myself on the back that I stayed so consistent with it for so long. Good things do come to an end, but I got a taste of it so I’m going to be greedy. I want it again.”
Gafford has been a major impact player for the Mavericks since arriving in a deadline-day trade last month from Washington.
He’s always been a great shooter from a percentage point of view. He doesn’t take a lot of shots outside his comfort zone, which is usually point-blank range.
He knows his strength and he usually sticks with it.
“What he’s brought to this team . . . the streak is very impressive when you talk about the likes of Wilt Chamberlain,” coach Jason Kidd said. “For Gaff to be there and mentioned in that air is pretty special.”
And while that’s nice and all, it’s Gafford’s ability to help win games that has Kidd particularly pleased.
“On the defensive end, he’s a big part of that, being able to protect the rim and rebound the ball,” Kidd said. “Unfortunately the streak did come to an end.”
And the way it came to an end was a bummer for Gafford. The 6-10 Arkansas product had a good look at the follow shot early in the game, but it wouldn’t go down.
“I was a bit butt-hurt when I missed the first layup attempt of the game, but it’s all good,” he said.
And he said he fell prey to some gamesmanship from Oklahoma City MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“The last two games, I found myself thinking about it a lot,” Gafford said. “I think Shai jinxed me before the game. He was like: ahh, you going to come in here and break the record on us? And I missed the first layup. He got me. But it’s OK.”
Since coming to the Mavericks, Gafford has averaged 11.2 points and 7.5 rebounds in 15 games. He’s also swatted away 1.9 shots per game as the tag-team anchor of the rim-protection defense with Dereck Lively II.
Oh, and Gafford has made 77.4 percent of his shots since arriving.
And he’s ready to start a new streak to keep raising that number.
Briefly: The Mavericks arrived back in Dallas early Friday and were given a well-deserved day of recovery after back-to-back games, including Thursday’s at OKC that didn’t end until 11:30 p.m. because of the late start for TNT . . . They will return to the practice court Saturday and should have a clearer indication as to the severity of the injuries to Luka Dončić (left hamstring soreness) and Josh Green (right ankle sprain) . . . Gafford took a fall during Thursday’s game, but said that he just landed wrong and was fine after shaking it off . . . The Mavericks play Denver at American Airlines Center on Sunday (2:30 p.m. tipoff) but then hit the road for six of seven games. The good news is that Friday marked the first day of a 10-day span in which they only play three games (Sunday against the Nuggets, Tuesday at San Antonio and Thursday at home against Utah). They won’t play after that until March 25 at Utah.
X: @ESefko
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