Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks weathered a week of adversity and came back out on top on Sunday.

After rolling to the best start in franchise history, the Mavs hit some misfortune last week. Their top two wing players, Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler went down to knee injuries and they dropped back-to-back games to Toronto and San Antonio.

So after a loss to Milwaukee on Saturday, their third straight, Jason couldn’t wait to get back out on the court Sunday night and snap the streak.

"We’ve got to stop the bleeding, so we’re very fortunate to be able to have another game tomorrow night," he said. "But it’s not going to be easy. Cleveland has some talented guys that play hard and can put some points on the board. So, the guys that are in uniform are gonna have to stick together and find a way to get the win."

J-Kidd and the Mavs did just that as the veteran point guard led a team decimated by injuries to a 104-95 victory over the Cavaliers on Sunday night.

Jason scored 10 points to go along with eight assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block. The win had everything to do with No. 2’s command of the court, as Mike Fisher of Dallas Basketball noted:

"J-Kidd? He is shouldering a monster burden … especially as the ringleader for a bunch of guys who, two months ago, weren’t necessarily supposed to every see the court. (That’d be DeShawn, DoJo, Ajinca, Mahinmi, Novak and Cardinal). But he found a way, one more time, with 10 points and eight assists."

Behind Jason’s lead, the Mavs got out to a blistering start. They hit five of their first six shots and created a quick 12-2 lead. J-Kidd guided the way, finding his teammates with a dish and assist on three of the five early shots.

It didn’t stop there, either and No. 2 went on a self-sustained 5-0 run to put Dallas ahead by 13. Jason made a lay-in, his first bucket of the night, to make it 14-6, then on the Mavs’ next possession he took a feed from DeShawn Stevenson and drained a three-pointer in the corner. That triple made it 19-6 at the midway point of the first period.

J-Kidd, who has been averaging over 35 minutes per game since the Nowitzki injury, took a breather for the opening six minutes of the second quarter. He re-entered the game with the Mavs leading 43-34 and promptly increased that lead by three more when he hit another triple in almost the same spot as his first.

By half, Dallas had a solid 55-47 lead, despite allowing Cleveland to shoot nearly 65 percent from the field in the second quarter and 57.1 percent in the first half.

The Mavs hit their groove in the second half and maintained their lead for the duration. Jason iced the game in the waning moments of the final quarter as he found Shawn Marion for consecutive mid-range jumpers. Then, with 37.1 seconds remaining, No. 2 drew a foul and hit both free throws to make the score 104-93.

Coach Rick Carlisle was particularly impressed with his team’s fast start to snatch the early momentum, as quoted by the Dallas Morning News:

"We got off to a good start, and this was a much-needed win," coach Rick Carlisle said. "With what happened with Caron last night, it’s been tough. We had a lot of guys play well, which is what we need."

SOUL MAN
The Sunday win snapped Dallas’ losing streak at three, but if Jason had his way, it would have ended a day sooner.

On Saturday, No. 2 followed his first triple-double of the year with a near quadruple-double against the Milwaukee Bucks. The veteran point guard, who has scored double-digit points in seven of his last eight games, scored an impressive 14 points and had nine assists, seven rebounds and a season-high six steals in the Mavs’ 99-87 loss.

J-Kidd’s outstanding effort drew praise from Mavs Moneyball:

How can I say enough about Jason Kidd? If Dirk is the heart of this team, keeping everything pumping and working right (we’ve seen what’s happened when you don’t have a heart the past few nights), then Jason Kidd is the soul.

Despite the Mavericks missing four of their top players due to injuries (the fourth being Beaubois…it’s been so long it’s easy to forget), he’s making play after play, and then trying to make a dozen more than at 37 he just simply can’t. Got to like the missed pull up jumpers and errant passes, because despite the results, you know that it’s just a guy trying to hard to make his team win.

Thanks to No. 2’s spectacular play, the Mavs were trailing by just two points, 73-71, heading into the final quarter. From there, however, they allowed 26 Bucks points while only managing 16.

According to Jason, even with the injuries Dallas has suffered of late, his team was in perfect position to come out with the win on Saturday night, an encouraging sign.

"We’ve been hit with the injury bug a little bit, but we feel we’ve got enough guys to win ballgames. And we were in a great position here in the fourth quarter to get a win on the road. We just came up short."

NEXT UP
No. 2 and the Mavs start a three-game homestand tonight against the Portland Trailblazers.

Tonight’s game marks the second meeting of the season between the two perennial playoff contenders. Last time they met, the Mavs pulled out a 103-98 victory—also in Dallas—on December 15th. J-Kidd finished with 11 points on 4-of-6 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and six assists in the win.

Tip-off of the rematch is set for 7:30 p.m. CST and the game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

RELATED STORIES