Despite his best statistical effort thus far in the series, J-Kidd and the Mavs fell to the New Orleans Hornets in Game 5 of the playoffs opening round, 99-94.
And with that, Dallas’ season came to an early end.
Jason was aggressive from the start, scoring seven of the Mavs first nine points while pushing the tempo and trying to get his teammates involved. Down by as many as 17, J-Kidd led a late Mavs surge in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three with 33.2 seconds to play.
But it was too little, too late, and the Hornets held on to take the series.
J-Kidd stepped up his offensive intensity, scoring 14 points, including two three-pointers. He added four rebounds, nine assists, and a steal in 41 minutes of play.
EVALUATING THE TRADE
As has been this case since the deal was made, the media continued to pound the Mavericks players with questions about ‘what if’.
Dirk Nowitzki took the back of J-Kidd as he spoke to the Star-Telegram about making the trade:
“Honestly, things didn’t look great before the trade…It would have been a struggle to get in the playoffs either way, so we just went for it. Sometimes you have to take some risks, and we went for it and we went for one of the greatest point guards that ever played this game, a Hall of Famer."
“For some reason we never got clicking the way we wanted to. We’d love to have a complete training camp with him and get used to each other more, but we didn’t have it. We had to get adjusted on the fly, and I don’t think things were natural.”
A FULL SEASON
With Jason at the helm, the Mavs went 17-17, never finding a groove. With a training camp, and a full season ahead, No. 2 is optimistic things will work themselves out:
“To have a training camp and full season definitely would help, but we felt that we were good enough to compete with the best,” Kidd said. “We looked at this series and we made a lot of mistakes defensively.
“The big thing is that we felt this could have been a better series.”
A-OK WITH AVERY
A lot has been made about the relationship of Jason and coach Avery Johnson. Many called out Johnson to open the offense for No. 2, saying he need to let the reigns down and let go of some control. No. 2 speak with the Star- Telegram to clear the air:
“Me and Coach, there are no problems, so for you guys to feel like there is anything between me and Coach is not the case,” Kidd said. “We just didn’t score enough, and we didn’t stop teams when we had to.”
NEXT UP
All eyes will be on October for No. 2 and the Mavs, as they anxiously await a chance to redeem themselves. With seven restricted free agents on the roster, changes are expected to be made, but a major overhaul seems unlikely.
RELATED STORIES
Kidd-trade outcome ends up all fizzle and no steak, (Star-Telegram, Apr. 30, 2008)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/613516.html
Dallas Mavericks playoff party ends, (Star-Telegram, Apr. 30, 2008)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/613222.html
Dallas Mavericks face uncertain off-season, (DallasNews.com, Apr. 30, 2008)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/043008dnspo1amavscopy.b2d1ae20.html
Clock’s ticking; will Avery get another shot with Mavericks?, (DallasNews.com, Apr. 30, 2008)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/043008dnspomoore.3f9c563.html
Mavericks-Hornets Box Score, (NBA.com, Apr. 29, 2008)
http://www.nba.com/games/20080429/DALNOH/boxscore.html