For the better part of a decade, the Dallas Mavericks have been perfect on Halloween.

With a solid all-around game and a 65-foot buzzer beater, Jason Kidd made sure to keep that streak alive on Sunday.

Jason scored a season-high 13 points and added seven assists, nine rebounds, and two steals to lead Dallas to a 99-83 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, their NBA-best eighth straight Halloween win and their 14th win in their last 15 games against the Clippers.

But it was J-Kidd’s play at the end of the first half that really sealed LA’s fate. With the clock preparing to send both teams to the locker room, Jason took aim from 65-feet away and hit an incredible three-pointer to put his team up by two. Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, described the play:

Jason Kidd got the rebound with about a second and a half showing on the clock, took a quick dribble and let it fly from just past the free throw line.

About three seconds later, the ball hit nothing but net on the other end of the court for a 3-pointer that should have been worth about 10 points given the degree of difficulty.

Usually, you get a car or something for making a shot from that far.

More importantly, it put the Mavericks up 49-47 at the half.

Watch Jason take the Mavericks into the locker room on a high below:


The shot was made all the more impressive by the fact that Jason hadn’t even planned to shoot it:

"I got the rebound, maybe with 2 seconds left, and I was going to eat it. But

[Jason Terry} told me to shoot it. I’m not going for the 3-point record, percentage-wise, so I let it go and it was on line. A lot of times when they’re on line, they don’t go in. So I got lucky."

DETAILS ON DEFENSE
The Mavs won their first road game by sticking to what’s been the game plan all season long: fast starts and solid defense.

Dallas used the momentum built by the buzzer-beating, lead-stealing three to charge out in the second half and outscore the Clippers by 10 points. From there, the victory was academic.

"A lot of times those can be momentum shots for the team that makes it, and it can definitely deflate a team if you’re on the other end of it," Jason said. "We felt we could build on it, and we went from there."

With the win, the Mavs extended their NBA-long win streak on Halloween, while holding their opponents to just 83 on their own home floor at the Staples Center.

It was an impressive showing by the Mavs defense in the second half. They held the Clippers to 19 third quarter points. In the fourth Dallas allowed just 17. Jason credited the team’s depth with the second half surge on both ends of the floor.

"Well we’re deep, you know, we got a lot of guys that we’re gonna throw at you," Jason told DallasBasketball.com, "and we feel that at the end of the day, or at the end of the game we’re gonna be fresher and we’re gonna be able to make plays."

LETDOWN GAME
Sunday’s win was a solid comeback from Friday’s home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, where the fourth quarter told a different story.

Exactly a week after Jason’s last-second inbounds pass to Shawn Marion brought Dallas back from down by one in a preseason game against the Houston Rockets, the Mavs found themselves in a similar situation on Friday.

With 1.9 seconds remaining against their southwest division rival the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas had one final opportunity for a quick pass and shoot. Unfortunately, the Mavs couldn’t recreate their preseason pluck as J-Kidd’s final inbounds pass around Memphis Grizzlies’ center Marc Gasol was broken up before a shot could be taken and the Mavs fell 91-90 at American Airlines Center.

After the game, No. 2, who finished the game with 10 assists—his second double-digit assist total in as many games—and nine points, took responsibility for the broken play, as quoted by Mavs Moneyball:

"After the timeout, they put Gasol on me to take the ball out and he blocked a little of my vision. But Jet came wide open and I just threw it behind him. That was my turnover on the last play because we got to get a shot no matter what."

GETTING OUT FRONT
Prior to the season the Mavs put an emphasis on starting games well and getting out to early leads. On Wednesday, they jumped out to a 16-0 lead; on Friday, they pulled ahead to a quick 11-4 lead.

Jason started the game strong and in just eight first quarter minutes he had eight points, three assists, and two rebounds. He opened the game by hitting three of his first four shots, two of which were three pointers.

In the second, J-Kidd put his passing prowess on display once again.

With 2:20 left in the half, forward Caron Butler found himself double-teamed in the corner in front of the Mavs’ bench. He quickly spotted No. 2 at the top of the three-point line and lobbed him the ball. Jason, who noticed that the Grizzlies had overloaded the right side of the court, sprinted in toward the ball and, without catching the pass, redirected it to a wide-open Jason Terry for the three-pointer. The play put Dallas up by 10.

Dallas continued to showcase their strong defensive play throughout the first three quarters, as they held the Grizzlies to just 40 percent from the field and forced eight turnovers. At halftime the Mavs held a nine-point lead, 50-41.

After allowing Memphis to go on a 9-0 run midway through the third, to lose the lead for only the second time in the game, the Mavs came roaring back by scoring 14 of the game’s next 21 points and they led 75-69 after three.

HAVE TO FINISH
Despite leading for much of the game, it was the team’s fourth quarter that allowed the Grizzlies to clinch the victory.

It was in the fourth that turnovers became the issue.

While the Mavs could only muster 15 points in the final quarter, it was the nine fourth- quarter turnovers and general lack of offensive rebounds that ultimately cost them the game. No. 2 spoke up after the game about what he thought happened and what the Mavs need to fix, as quoted by Mavs Moneyball:

"Defensively, we just didn’t make plays. We turned the ball over in the fourth. And then the other aspect, we gave up an offensive rebound when we needed one. And on top of that, we fouled and sent them to line. For that, we just have to learn that we need a stop…We’ve got to get the rebound."

NEXT UP
The Mavs finish their two-game road trip in Denver on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. CST and the game can be seen on KTXA.

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