This season, the Dallas Mavericks have made it a goal to keep Jason Kidd’s total minutes per game around 30 as a way to keep their All-Star point guard fresh.

But even the best laid plans get tweaked and last night against Western Conference rival the Denver Nuggets, the Mavs need a little more of J-Kidd to secure the victory.

So No. 2 played a season-high 38 minutes and was a crucial part in the Mavs’ 102-101 victory at the Pepsi Center.

Taking the extra minutes in the high-altitude at Denver in stride, Jason kept up his strong start to the season, finishing with 12 assists, three steals, three offensive boards and three points. He had just one turnover throughout the entire game.

With the first week of the season in the books, Jason has raised his play to an elite level. No. 2 leads the team, averaging 11.8 assists per game and 2.5 steals per game. His assist per game total is good for second in the NBA. Nuggets’ coach George Karl has always spoken highly of J-Kidd and talked postgame about his perennial excellence on the basketball court:

"Jason Kidd is amazing. His efficiency and effectiveness at the beginning of the season is…’Wow.’ Can he do this the whole year? He’s a high priority, because he and Carlisle are orchestrating all these pieces. And right now they’re doing it at a pretty good level," Karl said.

Prior to the game, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle reiterated his desire to keep Jason’s minutes down, but maintained that it would be likely that the minutes would go up against tough opponents:

"So far, I like the way it’s gone in terms of the minutes," Carlisle said. "And we’re going to try to continue it as consistently as we can knowing that there are going to be times when Jason and Dirk’s minutes are going to jump up a little. That’s part of the ebb and flow of the season. But we have to stay steadfast to really keeping this in mind as an important part of our approach this year."

WEATHERING THE STORM
Wednesday night’s game against the Nuggets was the first of four match-ups between the playoff contenders this season.

Last year, the Mavs emerged victorious in two of their three meetings with their Western Conference foes.

One of the Mavs’ trademarks this season has been geting out of the gates quickly, but Dallas was unable to open game with their typically fast start, instead falling behind early to the hot-shooting Nuggets. No. 2 brought the game to within three points after hitting the first three he took, but Denver continued their own successful three point shooting night and after one quarter the Mavs were down, 27-23.

The Nuggets played fast and went on a 12-2 run early in the second. By the seven-minute mark, Denver had extended their lead 10 points, 39-29. But the Mavs switched to a zone defense and began to slow the Nuggets’ scoring onslaught. The switch frustrated the Denver offense, which began to affect their defensive effort. That was all the Mavs needed to close in on the lead.

Jason had two big assists in the second quarter, including, after getting his own rebound, finding Dirk Nowitzki for a three pointer to pull within one point. The Mavs headed to the locker room down just 52-50.

During the third, the Mavs came out strong on both sides of the ball. In the first three minutes of the half, they regained the lead 58-54. The zone defense that had stifled the Nuggets’ fast-paced offense earlier in the game, continued to work well and the Mavs racked up five turnovers in just the first five minutes of the third.

The Mavs finished the third up 84-80, and Jason had improved his plus/minus rating from -6 after the first to an incredible +10. After losing the lead once again in the fourth due to a barrage of Denver threes, with five minutes remaining, Dallas held the Nuggets to four straight scoreless possessions. In the final eight seconds and guarded by both J-Kidd and Shawn Marion, Nuggets’ forward Carmelo Anthony took a last second shot that hit rim and bounced out.

The win improved the Mavericks to 3-1 on the season and a perfect 2-0 on the road.

DEFENSE REMAINS STRONG
Going into Wednesday night’s game, the Mavs had tied a franchise record for consecutive games holding opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field.

Despite having that streak snapped against the Nuggets, the Mavs’ defensive streak this year has been nothing to scoff at. Jason has preached since the outset of the preseason that defense would be a focus for the Mavs this year. So far, so good. ESPN Dallas described the Mavs’ dominant defensive start:

The statistical evidence:

*The Mavs have allowed 86.7 points per game, which ranks second in the league. They allowed 99.3 points per game last season, which ranked 15th.

*The Mavs are holding opponents to a league-low .374 shooting percentage from the floor. The Mavs’ defensive field goal percentage last season was .457, which ranked 15th in the league.

*The Mavs are allowing 92.8 points per 100 possessions, which ranks second in the league according to basketball-reference.com. The Mavs allowed 106.3 points per 100 possessions last season, which ranked 12th in the NBA.

NEXT UP
The Mavs head home and will be ready to face the Denver Nuggets for the second time in as many games on Saturday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m. CST.

The game can be seen on local station KTXA, and nationally on NBA TV.

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