There’s only one way to describe Jason Kidd’s performance over the past two games for the Dallas Mavericks: Clutch.

The Hall-of Fame point guard led his team to victories on back-to-back nights this weekend and the Mavs have now won eight games in a row, the longest current streak in the NBA.

On Friday, J-Kidd and the Mavs traveled to Boston to take on the Celtics and, thanks to some late game heroics by No. 2, swept their season series against one of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams.

With the clock ticking inside 10 seconds remaining and his team trailing by one, 97-96, J-Kidd received a pass from Dirk Nowitzki at the top of the 3-point arc. After pump-faking once, and letting Celtics’ guard Ray Allen bite hard on the fake and fly by, J-Kidd stepped back beyond the arc. From there he released a triple that hit nothing but net with 2.5 seconds left to give the Mavs the 99-97 lead they’d need for the victory.

No. 2 described the play to Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas and was just proud to have the trust of his teammates to take the shot.

"When Dirk Nowitzki hurried a pass to Jason Kidd at the top of the arc with the Mavericks trailing the Celtics by one and the clock ticking down, Kidd had one thought flash through his mind.

"I had one

[3-point shot] I missed from Jet [Jason Terry] earlier [in the fourth quarter] and that one I thought I just rushed it," Kidd said. "So, if I had another opportunity, just take your time, you’re not a shooter so they’re going to give you the shot."

Jason wasn’t the first or second option on the play drawn up during a timeout with 15.3 seconds left in the game and Dallas trailing 97-96. The play was supposed to go to Jason Terry. When that didn’t work out, the ball went to Dirk, who told ESPN Dallas he almost took the shot, as Caplan writes:

"I was about to throw something up at the basket," Nowitzki said.

Instead he pushed it out to Kidd, who was all alone at the top of the arc. Celtics guard Ray Allen came charging at Kidd, who gave a pump fake and Allen sailed by him.

"I had thoughts of maybe I’d throw up the ball and maybe jump into Ray," Kidd said, meaning he hoped he could draw a foul. "But he took a wide angle so I couldn’t get to him. So the next thing was to make sure I was behind the 3-point line and let it go."

Kidd shuffled his feet to behind the arc and released. There was no doubt about it.

"I’m glad I kicked it out," Nowitzki said. "He made a heck of a shot. A 3-pointer out of a pump fake is probably one of the toughest shots in basketball, but he made it look easy. He’s been making tough shots his whole career, and that was definitely a big shot."

 

J-Kidd finished the game just shy of a double-double with 10 points, nine assists and a block. But he was typically humble after the game.

"We’ve got a lot of guys in here that put the ball in the basket," he said. "Dirk was nice enough to trust his teammates down the stretch to make a play. I got lucky and it went in."

Jason’s opponents were more than willing to give the veteran point guard his due. Celtics forward Kevin Garnett wasn’t surprised that Jason nailed the shot when it mattered most, as quoted by Mavs Moneyball:

"He’s put teams on his back," Garnett said. "He’s carried the load and the responsibility for a long time. He’s no shag of a player, nothing like that. He’s a respected player. I think everybody in our organization and our locker room respects this dude."

Garnett’s teammate Ray Allen, the man who Jason fooled to get the shot off, was effusive in his praise for J-Kidd:

"He’s proven over his career that he can knock the 3-ball down," Allen said. "For most of his career, he hasn’t been given the credit for being able to shoot because he’s been able to do so many other things well. He’s always had the stigma that he was flashy, but he was very effective."

Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle also had acclaim for the way Jason finished the game:

"Kidd’s shot was phenomenal," he said. "We had a primary option and we knew they’d probably react to Jet. Kidd was able to show the [ball], step back and make the shot. They got us in a scramble type of situation. Those situations have been pretty good for us."

ROAD SWEEP
The Mavericks carried the momentum of their big win over Boston into Charlotte on Saturday, looking for a sweep of their three-game road trip and one again No. 2 delivered.

Jason finished with a phenomenal +14 point differential and scored 13 points to go along with six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals to help lead the Mavs to an easy, 102-92 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

J-Kidd got things started quickly as he fed Dirk just 45 seconds into the game to get the Mavs the 2-0 lead. Dallas never looked back, leading the rest of the game.

With three minutes remaining in the opening period No. 2 hit his first triple to extend the Dallas lead to 25-18, by the end of the first they were on top 31-22. Dallas held the Bobcats to just 39 percent from the floor in the opening quarter and 37.1 percent for the game. Jason was pleased with the way his team started each half.

"We got off to a good start, and then the last couple of games the third quarters have been big for us," he said. "Tonight, we came out in the third quarter and got the lead up. We made shots, we got stops, and from there we just tried to run the clock out."

In the Bobcats’ history, the Mavs are the only team that they have never beaten, as Dallas is now 14-0 against Charlotte and the win improved Dallas to 25-1 when scoring 100 points this season, a mark J-Kidd is proud of:

"We have a pretty good record when we score 100 points," he said.

To watch Jason talk more about Saturday’s win, click here

COUNTDOWN TO NO. 3
Over the weekend, Jason grabbed two steals to pull within 20 of passing his friend and mentor Gary Payton for No. 3 on the all-time steals list.

For his career, J-Kidd sits at 2,426 career steals just 19 behind Payton (2,445) for third.

This season, Jason is averaging 1.7 steals per game.

NEXT UP
No. 2 and the Mavs play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at the American Airlines Center.

As ESPN Dallas notes, the remaining games prior to the All-Star break are all winnable for the Mavs:

"Six games remain before the All-Star break. The Dallas Mavericks play two at home and four on the road. Only one opponent has a winning record.

So can the Mavs (34-15), riding an eight-game winning streak, match this season’s earlier streak of 12 in a row, or last season’s high of 13?

The final stretch before the break begins at home tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers. No team knows no misery than Cleveland. At 8-43, the Cavs have lost 24 in a row."

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

RELATED STORIES