Watch: Daniel Gafford stuffs PG-13

Gafford denied George at the rim early in the fourth quarter as part of a stunning defensive effort from Dallas. Long into the fourth quarter, the Mavericks held George and Kawhi Leonard to single-digit points, and Russell Westbrook to a single point.

It was Gafford’s third block of the game, which coupled with Dereck Lively’s two rejections, showed how Dallas’ interior defense dominated the game.

That paint presence also showed on offense where Dallas had 10 dunks in the first half, a historically large number of jams.

In another game where Luka Doncic had trouble scoring efficiently, the new defense-first Mavs shut down the Clippers stars.