Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks hit the ground running after the All-Star Break and haven’t looked back.
Riding the longest win streak the NBA has seen this season, the Mavs have no intentions of slowing down. Head coach Rick Carlisle said he has a fast-paced team led by a point guard who does much more than score, as he told Pegasus News.
"We’re a motion team that has one of the great all-time point guards running the show," Carlisle said. "Kidd helped us spread the floor and he gets a lot of our guys juiced up. He has helped Beaubois with some of his encouragement and telling him to shoot. He does a lot more for us besides scoring. Everything starts on this team with Kidd and Nowitzki."
J-Kidd led the Mavs to their 12th straight win on Monday. He put up 12 points – half from downtown – and 10 assists in the 125-112 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
No. 2 has now recorded three straight double doubles since being given a game off last Wednesday to rest.
Carlisle said everything the Mavericks do starts with Jason – and he was right. No. 2 has been consistently stuffing the box score and fueling his team throughout the win streak.
In the past 12 games, he has collected 145 points and 115 assists. The veteran is averaging more than 37 minutes per game and has grabbed seven double-doubles in the streak. But some aspects of the game don’t have a column in the box score and J-Kidd’s numbers are only a fraction of what he’s doing for his team.
Aside from being Carlisle’s right-hand man on the hardwood, Jason has been diligently mentoring rookie Roddy Beaubois. The young guard has become an integral part of the Mavericks’ winning equation since Jason Terry joined the injured list.
Beaubois, who scored another 11 points on Monday, attributes his success to his All-Star mentor, as he told NBA.com.
"It’s incredible," he said. "Jason Kidd knows the game. He knows everything. He’s given me some advice and I really appreciate it."
No. 2 has a mutual admiration for his teammate and paid Beaubois a high compliment as well.
"He’s a talent," future Hall of Famer and teammate Jason Kidd said. "He’s going to be a special player in this league."
NEXT UP
The Mavericks head back to Big D for a four-game homestand starting with the New Jersey Nets Wednesday night.
With just four games in the next 13 days, the Mavs can finally catch their collective breath and focus on the final stretch of the season.
The conductor of the Mavericks said his team needs to stay hungry in order to stay on top, as he told Pegasus News.
"You’ve got to stay hungry. We’ve won 12, now we’re home for 13 days. We have a four-game stand in 13 days, so we just have to stay hungry … We can’t just be satisfied with what we did in the past," Kidd said.
Tip-off against the Nets is at 7:30 p.m. CST on Fox Sports Network.
RELATED STORIES
Dallas Mavericks build steam heading into home stretch (Pegasus News, March 8, 2010)
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/mar/08/dallas-mavericks-win-streak/
Dallas Mavericks 125, Minnesota Timberwolves 112 (Pegsaus News, March 9, 2010)
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/mar/09/dallas-mavericks-125-minnesota-timberwolves-112/
Mavericks at Timberwolves Boxscore (NBA.com, March 9, 2010)
http://www.nba.com/games/20100308/DALMIN/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0020900943
Buzz growing in Dallas for Mavs Rookie (NBA.com, March 9, 2010)
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/art_garcia/03/09/beaubois.mavs/