At 10:05 of the fourth quarter, Tarris Reed Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound for San Antonio. Daniel Gafford then blocked Reed’s 2-foot shot at 10:00, a sharp contest that still left a rebound to collect. Reed collected the rebound anyway. At 9:52, Julian Champagnie made a 25-foot 3-pointer.
That small sequence captured Dallas’ problem better than the final margin. The Mavericks had a center doing his job, and still the Spurs kept the possession alive long enough to turn a missed shot into three points. San Antonio beat Dallas 122-106 Saturday at American Airlines Center, and Gafford’s 12 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and three steals deserved credit.
The defeat belonged to the whole group.
The issue was not that Gafford failed to contest the rim. He did that repeatedly. With 10:34 left in the third quarter, he blocked Victor Wembanyama’s 5-foot running layup and secured the defensive rebound himself. Late in that same period, Gafford grabbed an offensive rebound after Sergio de Larrea missed and scored on the tip with 19.5 seconds left, trimming San Antonio’s lead to 92-89.
Those plays show the value Dallas received from him. They also show the limit of asking one big man to repair every broken possession. San Antonio finished with 15 offensive rebounds and 25 second-chance points.
Dallas had eight offensive rebounds and scored 10 second-chance points. A blocked shot is an interruption, not a possession secured; Reed’s second effort turned Gafford’s excellent contest into another opportunity for the Spurs.
The fourth quarter began with Dallas within three. Gafford’s layup, assisted by Walter Clayton Jr., made it 92-91 with 11:32 remaining. San Antonio answered with a Devin Vassell 3-pointer, Reed’s alley-oop layup, and the sequence involving Reed, Gafford and Champagnie. By the time Dylan Harper hit another 3 at 9:05, the Spurs had moved ahead 103-91.
Dallas did produce a response. Clayton hit a 3 at 8:47, and the Mavericks were within nine. But the possession battle kept tilting away. Champagnie made another 3 at 6:31, Harper added one at 5:53, and San Antonio’s advantage was back to 15. Dallas never again made the game competitive.
The offensive arithmetic makes the same point from a different direction. Dallas shot 45-for-88, or 51 percent, while San Antonio went 48-for-101, or 48 percent. The Mavericks were more accurate and still lost by 16 because the Spurs got 13 more field-goal attempts.
