There was one number that stood out among all the rest in Jason Kidd’s stat line after the Dallas Mavericks took down the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night:

100 percent.

That was J-Kidd’s 3-point shooting percentage during the Mavs’ 103-98 victory over Portland. No. 2 hit three times from long distance—Dallas’ only 3-pointers of the game—and led all shooters with a trio of treys. But most importantly, all three of Jason’s threes came at crucial points in the game. Coach Rick Carlisle told ESPN Dallas that he wasn’t surprised to see Jason hit his stride again when the Mavs needed it most:

"The guy’s in his 17th year. He knows the deal. You just keep playing the game. You keep working and he’s doing all that," Carlisle said. "Again, if there’s anybody in this league I’d like to see line up a 3 in a big-shot situation, he’d be the guy."

But No. 2’s impact wasn’t limited to his triples, J-Kidd was all over the floor. He hit on 67 percent of his attempts from the field and finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block.

The Mavs also played fantastic defense to open the game. They forced Portland to miss their final 10 field goals in the first quarter and allowed just 14 points. No. 2 did his part on the defensive side of the ball in the first as he led all Mavs with four rebounds.

After taking a quick breather, Jason re-entered the game at the midway point of the second quarter with the score knotted at 32. A possession later, No. 2 sank a long jumper to give the Mavs the 36-33 lead.

He extended the lead to 39-35 under a minute later when he drained a triple off a Caron Butler feed. Jason’s trey put in motion a 12-4 Mavs’ run to end the half.

It was in the second half that Portland started to fight their way back into the game and in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers scored 29 points. But J-Kidd helped the Mavs keep pace. The veteran point guard started to get the ball down low to big man Tyson Chandler and as the quarter wound to a close, No. 2 added another three of his own. With those contributions, the Mavs still led 78-68 with a quarter remaining.

FINISH THEM
But Portland wouldn’t go away and they pulled to within five points with six minutes left in the game.

The Mavs’ recent propensity to let their leads slip away in the final minutes, an alarming trend, propelled Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas to ask Jason what’s happening:

"It sounds awfully familiar: New Jersey came from 21 down to get within 5; Utah came from 25 back to tie and Milwaukee on Monday came all the way back from 20 to lead by nine late and win by four.

Jason Kidd tried to assess the situation with a touch of humor.

"Through the season you try to be consistent," he said. "We’re being consistent in the sense of getting big leads and giving up them. … It’s not a bad thing to struggle with."

But seriously …

"We relax a little bit, so we’re relaxing and we give our opponent a chance to come back," Kidd said. "In the last

[four] games we’ve had big leads and we give them up. We have to figure out how to maintain our focus and keep that lead where it’s at, 17 or 20, keep it above 10. Right now we’re just struggling with that."

No. 2 did his best to extend that lead when he hit his final triple to put the Mavs up by nine with five to play. After Jason’s three, Dallas went on a 12-7 run to finish the game and achieve their 20th victory.

NEXT UP
The Mavs, who have gone 4-1 during their season’s longest home stretch, now own the second best start in franchise history with 20 wins in their first 25 games.

J-Kidd will be looking to help his team achieve win number 21 tonight when they cap their homestand against his good friend Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns.

Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. CST. The matchup can be seen locally on KTXA and, for the second game in a row, the Mavs will be televised nationally on ESPN.

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