No. 2 logged another tremendous statistical milestone in his career Sunday, passing Magic Johnson for the third-most career assists all-time.

Jason collected 19 points and a jaw-dropping 20 assists in a blowout 140-116 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns. With the victory, Dallas was all but assured of a playoff spot. 

PASSING MAGIC
No. 2 now has 10,144 assists in his career, and is only 190 assists away from the second spot on the list, held by Mark Jackson.

J-Kidd talked about how he proud he was of passing Magic on the list with Dallasbasketball.com after the game:

“To be up there (in the record books) is a great honor. It gave me goosebumps.’’

One of the keys to Jason getting reaching 20 assists for only the 2nd time in his career was Carlisle giving him complete freedom to run the offense as he wished.  As the coach told Dallasbasketball.com:

“(Kidd) has an iron will. Just absolutely unbelievable. … Some of the stuff that he was inventing out there offensively for us was just phenomenal. … Never underestimate greatness at any age. People used to ask me about Reggie Miller and I would say that. When I was in Detroit my first two years, Jordan was making a comeback with Washington and I said the same thing. We played Toronto my first playoff series as a head coach in 2002 and Hakeem Olajuwon was playing. I said the same thing and he came out and he put about an 11 point run on us in four minutes during Game 2. It was very scary and he was toward the end of his career.”

“You can’t ever relax on these guys. … There’s a reason Kidd is going to the Hall of Fame on the first vote.”

Magic Johnson was one of Jason’s childhood heroes, and as No.2 explained to the Dallas Morning News, so much about what he loves about hoops he learned watching Magic play.

“Just the enjoyment of playing. Having fun and making your teammates better…

[Magic’s] will to help his team win. That’s probably the biggest thing I could have taken from his game.”

At one point in his conversation with the Dallas Morning News, Magic’s signature dish — the no-look pass — came up. Asked if had his own signature pass, Jason replied:

“I like the bounce pass. Dirk and Jet like to take a dribble to get into rhythm before they shoot.”

“When you bounce it to them, it almost acts like a dribble for those guys.”

A GREAT NIGHT FOR A RECORD
No.2 talked after the game about Dallas’ notable offensive output. 

“The biggest thing is that we had fun in a big game. And when we do that, we are dangerous.”

J-Kidd matched his previous season-high of 16 assists in the first half alone, as with his 14th assist of the half he passed Magic to move up to third on the all-time list. With 48 seconds remaining in the half, Jason dished the ball to Howard who nailed an easy 18-footer to give him his 10,142nd for his career.

The ultimate professional, when fans tired to show their appreciation of his accomplishment, he quickly signaled for the crowd to quiet in order for Dirk to hit his free throws. Mavs fans weren’t quiet for long though, as the half ended with Josh Howard nailing a three-quarter court bomb off of a Jason inbounds pass.

No.2 joked with Dallasbasketball.com after the game about that pass:

“That’s my longest assist. But Josh did all the work.”

Not only did Jason pass the ball well, but he also was aggressive on the scoring end. Using his size, No. 2 constantly initiated the offense on the low-block, which the Suns were unable to stop. Dallasbasketball.com described Jason’s huge day best:

“There are a skillion Jason Kidd numbers to digest in this game: The 10,141th assist and the 10,42nd assist and the more assists. The long-range shooting (6-of-8 total, 3-of-4 from the arc). The overall crazy boxscore that featured 19 points and 20 assists with just two turnovers mixed in in 30 minutes. The fact that he pretty much accomplished that all in one half, when he totaled 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting with 16 assists, three rebounds and just one turnover.”

“Nice. But I’d prefer to focus on a strategic nugget, and one I thought we’d see as a steady diet when Jason boomeranged back to Dallas last year: Kidd in the low post.”

“He is not a leaper, he is not a finisher and even his layups spin like Phil Niekro shot ‘em. But when Jason Kidd is allowed (by an opponent’s frailty, usually) to operate the offense in the low post, he is truly unstoppable. Dallas consistently cleared out a path for Kidd, who backed in on his defender Steve Nash. … backed in. … backed in. … and then either spun for a layup or kicked out to shooters whose defenders who were left unaware by the unusual angles taken advantage of by the inside-out approach.”

In one of Jason’s best games as a Mav, the only thing that he was unable to accomplish was a triple-double. Then again, as he jokingly told ESPN.com about only having 4 boards:

“Unfortunately my teammates were making them.”

ON THE ROAD
The Mavs continued their struggles on the road Friday night as they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 107-102.

Jason had his third straight double-digit assist game as he had 9 points, 10 assists, and 5 boards in the Mavs loss. With the game within their grasp at the end of the 4th quarter, the Mavs were unable to make a shot. In a crucial four-minute stretch, the Mavs were unable to put anything away as they missed 5 straight 3-pointers, which is what allowed the Grizzlies to pull away and clinch the victory.

NEXT UP
The Mavs face the Utah Jazz Wednesday night in a game that is extremely important for their hopes to move up into a better playoff position. The game can be seen at 8:30 pm CST.

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