Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks picked up right where they left off after the long All-Star break.

Jason dished out a game-high 12 assists, netted five points on 2-of-3 shooting, grabbed three rebounds and picked off two steals in Dallas’ 118-99 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

It was another big night for No. 2, and Mavs Moneyball writer Bryan Gutierrez noted an interesting fact about J-Kidd’s performance in his game-recap:

"At one point, Jason Kidd had as many assists as the Jazz had as a team (12). The point guard finished with a game-high 12 assists and he did not play in the fourth quarter. Kidd has led the team in assists 45 times this season (including ties) and the Mavs are 34-11 in such games. Dallas is 16-4 on the year when he drops at least 10 dimes. He recorded 35 games with 10-plus assists last season (30-5 record)."

The Mavs have now won 14 of their past 15 games, and are averaging some impressive numbers over the current streak. Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas put the Mavs’ offensive explosion into perspective:

"The Mavs have been on quite an offensive tear, a reversal from earlier this season when surprising and impressive late-game defense won games with the final score in the 90s and even 80s. Dallas has now scored at least 100 points in 12 of the last 13 games, and in all 13 at least five players scored in double figures.

The Mavs are 25-4 when at least five players score 10 points or more. Remarkably, nearly half of that total has come during this last stretch of 13 games in which they’re averaging 107.5 points."

The win also marked the fifth straight game in which the Mavericks have shot 50 percent or better from the field. They made 58 percent of their shots on Wednesday, and former Maverick Rolando Blackman told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that J-Kidd is the driving force behind that.

"With Jason Kidd, you have the height of heights of guys who can think; you salivate when you have a guy like Jason Kidd," Blackman said. "All you have to do is be ready, keep your eye on the ball and be ready to get your shots fired because he’s the reason guys shoot that high of a percentage."

Just hours before Wednesday’s game, Dallas’ opponent Utah pulled off a blockbuster trade, sending All-Star point guard Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets.

It was the second shockwave move of the month for the Jazz, one of the most consistently successful teams in the NBA during Jason’s career. Jason talked about the drastic changes that had hit Utah of late, as quoted by Dallas Basketball:

"Sometimes your heart and mind come together and say it’s time to move on, and I think that’s what maybe happened with

[Jazz coach Jerry] Sloan [retiring," No. 2 said. "And then management, with D-Will, that’s just a management thing. They wanted to make a change, so they made a change.”

Despite the trade of Utah’s All-Star point guard just hours before the game, J-Kidd cautioned his Mavericks team that the Jazz were not to be overlooked:

"You can’t overlook them," he said. "We’re all professionals and those guys over there are going to be prepared to play. They’ve always played hard, no matter who’s playing. We played them up in Utah a year ago or two years ago and they didn’t have any of their starters play and we still lost. We’ve got to come out and take care of business."

Jason made sure the Mavs set out on that path early in the contest. On the game’s first possession, he fed Peja Stojakovic for a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 3-0 lead. Minutes later, J-Kidd added a mid-range jumper from the left elbow to extend the Mavs’ lead to 12-8 at the seven-minute mark. However, the Jazz responded with a 17-6 run that gave them the 24-18 lead and at the end of the opening quarter, Utah led 26-23.

But after taking a breather on the bench to start the second quarter, Jason re-entered the game with five minutes left in the half and his team trailing by one. He promptly hit a triple from the right wing to give Dallas the 48-46 advantage.

After pushing them ahead, No. 2 passed the rock to his teammates and sparked an 11-4 run with assists on Dallas’ final four buckets of the half to put the Mavs in front 59-55 at the break. They didn’t trail again.

Stojakovic continues to be impressed by the brand of unselfish basketball the Mavericks’ play led by J-Kidd, as he told Mavs Moneyball.

"This is a very unselfish team," Stojakovic said. "And not only that, you are playing with guys who really know how to play basketball. Sometimes you don’t even have to call a play on the offensive end. You just put the ball in Kidd’s hands, and with ball movement and player movement you get all the good shots."

Jason found Peja twice more in the third as the Mavs scored 29 points to open up a commanding 88-77 lead by the end of the third. With the game well in hand, No. 2 sat out the entire fourth quarter and watched the deepest bench in the NBA close out the victory.

ADVICE FOR DERON
Thursday brought to an end one of the most active trade seasons in recent memory.

The most surprising move may have been the aforementioned trade of Deron Williams to New Jersey. Jason is familiar with both parties, having formed a friendship with Williams as part of the 2008 Olympic team and of course, having spent over six years as point guard for the Nets. Looking at it from both sides, J-Kidd sees a fit.

"I think the big thing for a player like D-Will, is a point guard is a lot easier because you always have the ball,” Jason told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "He just has to pick up Avery [Johnson]’s system and if they have 26 games, it’s going to be quick, because I was in that situation. The big thing is the offseason, and get comfortable and then go from there.”

Jason is familiar with being the star point guard headed to New Jersey in a trade. Nets general manager Billy King even cited recreating the dynamic that propelled the team to two Eastern Conference titles under Jason as a reason for making the move:

"I think that move is right up there with Jason Kidd, because he was able to turn this franchise around," King said. "This is big. I look back when we were able to get Jason Kidd. You win with very good point guards. Jason took this franchise in a whole new direction and I think Deron can do the same."

The pressure will be on Williams and Jason’s advice to his friend was to trust in his teammates and be himself:

"Avery has a system, but at the same time he’s going to let Deron be Deron and be successful,” Kidd said. "The big thing is he’s got a playbook that he has to pick up, but he has some talented pieces around him.”

TEAM KEPT INTACT
While New Jersey and Utah were among the dozens of NBA teams active at the trade deadline, the Mavericks remained quiet.

And that’s okay with them.

Dallas currently sports the second-best record in the Western Conference and fourth-best overall at 41-16, so J-Kidd didn’t mind seeing the Mavs hold-off on any trades as the deadline passed:

"We’ve got a great group of guys," Kidd said. "We feel confident that we can compete with the best. With moves or no moves, we feel that we can win a championship."

As tcat75 of Mavs Moneyball writes, the Mavericks have all their pieces in place:

"Barea and Beaubois bring penetration, with a knack of getting past their defender some way or another. Peja and Terry spot up, getting open shots because the guards can drive the lane. Marion, Chandler, and sometimes Haywood all show they are strong finishers, and great at cleaning up or exploiting a defensive break down. Wildcards coming off the bench in Mahinmi and Stevenson add further potency.

And, of course, there is Jason Kidd running the show, conducting the orchestra, writing the script of the drama, which unfolds each and every night. Dirk is the foundation and the cornerstone of the offense, but right now, the pieces are so intricately woven that a few minutes here and there without Dirk is not causing a massive collapse. One or two pieces may wobble, but the support is there.

The Mavericks have depth in their scoring. It’s not just Dirk anymore."

Jason believes that the Mavericks also have the all-important x-factor to compete for a title: experience, which he recently told the Jim Rome Show is just as important as talent:

"When you come into this league, you feel that you’re talented and you might be quicker than everybody. But to understand what it takes to win in the NBA, you learn that over time. You just don’t walk in your first two years and understand how important the last six minutes of an NBA game mean," Jason said. "Sometimes we don’t learn that, but I think when you look at the stars … they’re young but they picked it up quickly. It all depends on the talent and understanding the game. Kobe [Bryant], he picked it up pretty quickly."

Bryant’s Lakers, along with the San Antonio Spurs, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics are the main teams in the NBA title conversation, often leaving the Mavs as an afterthought. But Jason doesn’t mind playing the role of underdog.

"We don’t mind that. When you look at the defending champs, the Lakers, and how San Antonio’s playing and then Boston and then you have Miami. You talk about those teams and when you do talk about those teams, we’ve beat those teams," J-Kidd told Rome. "We don’t have to be talked about ‘til June and hopefully we’ll be the one team representing the Western Conference."

NEXT UP
Jason and his Mavericks travel to Washington D.C. to take on the Wizards this Saturday.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CST and the game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

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