Things were supposed to look up for the Dallas Mavericks following the return of Anthony Davis, but that did not go their way against the Brooklyn Nets. The Mavericks lost to the Nets, which was unfortunate for them as they are far out of the playoff picture.

Despite the improvement in recent NBA games, the Dallas Mavericks were defeated in a surprising way. After this defeat, Anthony Davis was very critical of his team performance. The Dallas Mavericks have shown major improvement in their recent NBA stretch.

Making matters worse for him, it was against a G League call-up in undrafted center Drew Timme. Timme, who recently signed a multi-year contract with the Nets, impressed in his first two games with Brooklyn and continued to prove himself against the Mavericks on Monday night.

Gafford (knee) tallied 17 points (6-9 FG, 3-6 FT), seven rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes Monday in the Mavericks' 113-109 loss to the Nets. The poor free-throw shooting made Gafford's performance less palatable in category-based leagues,

Gafford is in the Mavericks' starting lineup against the Nets on Monday, Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com reports. Gafford will get the start Monday in his return from a 21-game absence due to a right MCL sprain and will be restricted to 15-to-20 minutes,

Cleared to play Monday