Thanks to a fantastic game from the two Js, Dallas is headed to the postseason as the seventh seed in the West.
Jason picked up his 100th triple-double of his career and Jason Terry dropped in 30 points as the Mavericks handed the New Orleans Hornets a 111-98 loss in the regular season finale.
With 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, it was clearly his best game since returning to where his career began. Afterward, however, Jason admitted that he was lucky to have gotten the better of Chris Paul on the night.
“The beauty of it is he’s so much better than I am .I just try to make it tough. He has all the tools, he understands the game, he can shoot the 3, he can find the open guy, he can put a lot of pressure on your defense."
RUN IT BACK
As a reward for playing so well, Jason and Co. get to head to New Orleans for the first round of the playoffs, where they’ll be up against CP3 and the rest of the Hornets again.
Looking ahead, however, Jason recognizes that the challenge of facing New Orleans is about a lot more than outplaying Paul. As he told the Star-Telegram:
“For the next week-and-a-half or two weeks or however long this first round is, it’s not so much a one-on-one battle. You win as a team and you lose as a team, so that’s the way I look at it."
The playoffs begin either Saturday or Sunday, depending on the how the schedule falls out.
RELATED STORIES
Mavs win behind Kidd’s triple-double, head south for playoffs (Star-Telegram, Apr. 16, 2008)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/587393.html
Dallas Mavericks get Hornets after 111-98 win (Dallas Morning News, Apr. 16, 2008)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/041708dnspomavslede.6eeaf161.html