Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks have proven time and time again this year that they have the formula to halt opponent winning streaks:

Defense.

The NBA’s streak busters did it again on Monday night when they took care of the Miami Heat 98-96, ending Miami’s 12-game winning streak. It was the sixth time in the young season that Dallas has put an end to a winning streak of five or more by an opponent. It also improved Dallas’ record to 22-5, a third of the way into this season.

After Monday’s win, J-Kidd, who finished with a game-high seven assists, seven points, four rebounds and a steal, spoke to the media about his team’s mindset when going against a team on a streak, as quoted by Dallas Basketball:

"We relish the challenge," he said. "We got to rely on our defense if we want to win. Our offense is going to come and go, but we rely on our defense that we’ve got to get stops. We did that in the fourth quarter and capitalized on the other end. Even if we miss a shot, we just felt like we could get another shot and get another crack at it at the other end."

While defense won the day, it was Jason and Mavericks offense which got Dallas off to a quick start in the opening minutes of the first quarter.

The veteran point guard found Dirk Nowitzki for a pair of quick baskets on the Mavs’ first two possessions to give the team a 4-0 lead. After another Miami misfire, No. 2 took matters into his own hands by draining a triple to put the Mavs up 7-0 early.

Minutes later, Jason found DeShawn Stevenson for the trey and then added two more points to his own total on the next possession, when he drove into the lane for a lay-in that extended Dallas’ lead to 23-10. Eddie Sefko of Mavs Blog described the Mavs’ amazing start:

"The Mavericks came out smoking. They hit five of their first six shots and were ahead 12-2 barely three minutes into the game, at which point the Heat had to call a timeout. The advantage grew to 14-2 and eventually to 23-10 with under three minutes left in the opening frame."

All told, Jason had a hand in 14 of the Mavs’ 23 first-quarter points and was the Mavs’ second-leading scorer in the opening frame with five points.

The Dallas defense stumbled slightly to end the first and allowed Miami to go on a 12-0 run to tighten the score at 23-22. But after a second quarter that saw the NBA’s third-ranked defense in opponent shooting percentage hold the Heat to just 31 percent from the field, Jason and the Mavs came out firing in the second half.

No. 2 got the ball to teammates DeShawn Stevenson and Caron Butler, who hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to put Dallas ahead 51-48. But the Heat fought back and, after three, they led Dallas by three.

The Mavs, however, would not be denied and played stellar defense in the fourth quarter that confused the Miami players, especially Chris Bosh:

"We didn’t know if they were in a man-to-man defense or zone at times," Bosh said. "It’ll throw you off."

With the Dallas defense working well, the offense did their part to pull out the victory. Jason made the play of the game early in the fourth with 10 minutes remaining:

After a LeBron James fade-away jumper clanged off the iron, No. 2 scrambled for the loose ball, eventually winning the rebound battle with Miami’s Joel Anthony. As Jason ran it down the floor, he made a fantastic behind-the-back pass to Shawn Marion, who finished with the slam and pulled the Mavs to within one, 70-69.

That paved the way for Jason Terry, who, despite struggling for much of the game, scored 19 points in the fourth quarter alone to push the Mavs to the win. No. 2, who had a big fourth quarter bucket of his own, was happy to see his teammate JET come through in the clutch:

"He’s such a great teammate in the sense he’s always cheering other guys on if they’re struggling a little bit," Jason Kidd said. "This was role reversal where everybody was cheering him on saying, ‘We just need you to make one,’ and we believe once he makes one it will lead to more. In that fourth quarter he just made all the right plays by driving and getting to the basket, scoring and making his free throws and also passing to the open guy."

J-Kidd would add a big jumper late in the fourth and the Mavericks sank their free throws down the stretch to seal their 15th win in 16 games.

NEXT UP
Jason and the Mavs’ face one more tough challenge tonight against the Magic in Orlando before getting a well-deserved break. After they leave Orlando, Dallas won’t play again until Monday, December 27th.

Tonight’s game is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. CST tip-off and will be aired nationally on NBA TV and locally on KTXA.

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