Daniel Gafford wants Mavs’ fans to always keep the faith

That same path the Dallas Mavericks traveled when they knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs seems to be taking shape in the second round against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Mavs lost Game 1 on the road against the Clippers, then won Game 2 on the road against the Clippers. The Mavs lost Game 1 on the road against the Thunder, then won Game 2 on the road against the Thunder.

From the Mavs’ perspective, the moral of the story is they don’t want their fans spending any valuable time worrying themselves just because they open up a series with a loss. To paraphrase coach Jason Kidd after the 117-95 loss in Game 1 of this series against the Thunder, a series doesn’t consist of just one game.

The first team with four victories wins the series. Period. Paragraph. End of story.

“It just shows that you always have to have faith at the end of the day,” center Daniel Gafford said. “Faith is like the biggest thing when it comes to life, basketball, whatever you put your mind to, in my opinion.

“Just having faith is just something that kind of keeps you afloat in some of the tough times that you have. It gives you the opportunity to really come together as a team and kind of just take that next step into the path of success that we want to have.”

The Mavs had faith they were going to be able to have a much faster pace in Game 2 against the Thunder than they rolled out in Game 1. And they were very successful in that endeavor, as the quicker pace helped pave the way for a 119-110 win over the Thunder on Thursday night at Paycom Center to even this best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Gafford finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes. He also overcame a scary moment when he skied high to block a shot and wound up writhing in pain after he hit his right hand on the backboard.

“My hand got a bad angle and popped the pinkie out of place,” Gafford said. “It’s perfectly fine.

“I’ve had a worse dislocation when it came to my thumb my first year. I’ve had my share of hand injuries in my years in the league.”

What Gafford hasn’t had during his five-year career is many trips to the free throw line. But that’s changed in this series against the Thunder.

In Game 1, Gafford was 6-of-8 from the free throw line, and in Game 2 he was 5-of-9. The 17 free-throw attempts are the most Gafford has accumulated in a two-game span during his NBA career.

“It’s just being aggressive, and at just being physical on the offensive and defensive end,” he said. “If you be physical and go try to finish everything, sooner or later the whistle is going to come into your favor, every now and then.

Elsewhere, the Mavs doled out 20 of their 30 assists in the first half, and wound up making 18-of-37 shots from three-point land.

“It was pretty much our teammates telling us to kind of take our time and be patient,” Gafford said. “We’ve always been finding guys on the weak side and finding guys pretty much anywhere on the floor.

“It’s just how much they react off of the rolls. So, once we take our time and make plays in the pocket it just opens the floor up for everybody – for us to be able to finish around the basket, or for us to find guys in the corner or the wings.”

Luka Dončić was 11-of-21 from the field – including 5-of-8 from downtown – and finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. And P.J. Washington was 11-of-18 from the floor – including 7-of-11 from three-point range — and collected 29 points and 11 rebounds.

From a defensive standpoint, Gafford was impressed with the way the Mavs held their own against the Thunder’s smaller lineup.

“(It was) just the confidence in our defense and always knowing that there’s someone behind us,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who’s on the ball.

“You’ve always got some type of line of defense behind you when it comes to somebody driving to the basket, because you want to force these guys into the three, and they want to try to finish at the basket the majority of the time. One of the things that coach Kidd always says is that (it comes down to) chemistry and the trust when it comes to our defensive schemes.”

Also, adjustments are made throughout the game, and from game-to-game. Which is why Gafford doesn’t want folks getting bent out of shape if the Mavs lose a game.

“We’re always studying, we’re always trying to find ways to make that adjustment to take that next step defensively (and) offensively,” he said. “It takes a lot of lessons to really get to the top.

“Once we figure out ways to get past those lessons every time in a positive way, it’s going to help us in the long run.”

Here are the three takeaways from the Mavs’ nine-point win over the Thunder.

DON’T MESS WITH LUKA: One of these days, folks are going to learn: Don’t mess with Luka Dončić. One day after the Mavs’ superstar point guard learned the voters didn’t vote him as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season, Dončić showed them why he was deserving of the MVP. And on the same day he showed the voters he didn’t care for their snub, fans at the Paycom Center didn’t treat him too kindly. All of that was motivation for Dončić to go out and do what he does best. And that is, shred opponents. “It was great for me,” Dončić said, referring to the crowd disparaging him. “I love it.” But there was one thing Dončić didn’t love. “There was one guy courtside going at my family,” he said. “I don’t like that, man. He’s a grown-ass man. He can’t do that. It’s crazy. A grown-ass man coming at my family. That’s kind of nuts.” In the end, Dončić collected 29 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

HARDAWAY, GREEN FOUND SUCCESS OFF THE BENCH: It took just two games, but guard Tim Hardaway Jr. finally found his shooting touch. Sidelined the last four games of the first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers due to a right ankle sprain, Hardaway returned for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but was only able to contribute two points in 17 minutes on 1-of-5 shooting. However, in Game 2, Hardaway re-discovered his shooting stroke while playing an integral role in the Mavs’ victory. Not only did Hardaway score 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. But he was able to accomplish that in a very efficient 19 minutes off the bench. Also, Hardaway was 2-of-4 from three-point range. And it was his three-pointer with the 24-second shot clock about to expire that was the dagger that put the Mavs up, 117-106, with 2:25 remaining. Green, meanwhile, scored 11 points in 16 minutes and was 3-of-5 from downtown. “It shows that everybody can go, it shows our depth, and it shows that everybody comes in locked in and ready to play,” center Daniel Gafford said. “When it comes to us making plays out of the pocket or finishing around the basket, it really just opens up the floor for us because we’re having to make guys make decisions down the stretch.”

SHUT DOWN THE THREE-POINT LINE: Just like they did in the first round of the playoffs against the Clippers when they shut down the three-point line, the Mavs did the same thing to the Thunder on Thursday. In Game 1 of this series, the Thunder fired in 16-of-35 three-pointers for 45.7 percent. But when the Mavs went in the film room and saw how crafty the Thunder were from long distance in the series opener, part of their master plan in Game 2 was to not let that happen again. Thus, the Mavs defended the three-point line more aggressively on Thursday. When they could, they chased OKC off the home-run line, or simply made things a bit more difficult. The results: The Thunder were just 10-of-30 from beyond the arc for a frosty 33.3 percent. In the first round of the playoffs against the Mavs, the Clippers made 18 three-pointers in the two games they won, and converted only 10 three-pointers or fewer in the four games they lost.

X: @DwainPrice