After celebrating his own birthday on Wednesday, Jason Kidd decided that on Thursday night it would be better to give than to receive.

No. 2 handed out presents galore against Minnesota, dishing 13 assists to go along with six rebounds, three steals and a block in the Mavs’ 104-96 victory over the Timberwolves at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The victory was the Mavs’ 50th of the season and marked the 11th-consecutive season that Dallas has reached the 50-win mark.

"That’s very impressive for a franchise to be able to do that," Jason said after the victory. "That just shows that the owner and management have something special here.”

But with the Maverick minds ever focused on the ultimate goal—an NBA title—there was little celebration after the win as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News noted:

"That will make it 11 consecutive seasons with at least 50 wins. Only the Spurs (current) and the Lakers of the Magic Johnson era had longer stretches, each with 12 in a row.

But count Jason Kidd among those who believes that fans – and the Mavericks themselves – should not take 50-win seasons for granted. Kidd has seen the other side, having won far less than 50 games numerous times in his career, including in his first run with the Mavericks in the forgettable ’90s.

"You can get spoiled as a fan and that can be unfortunate because it’s not a guarantee that you’re going to win 50 games every year," he said. "It can turn very quickly the other way. Sometimes you can get spoiled. But I think we all know winning 50 games means a lot, but at the same time, to win a championship is more important."

NO DAYS OFF NECESSARY
J-Kidd suited up for the 70th-straight time this season on Thursday night, putting to bed any talk he might take a night off to rest for the playoffs.

Over the past two seasons, Jason has played in 150 out of 152 regular season games. No. 2 told Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas that, despite all the work, coach Rick Carlisle has done a fantastic job of keeping his minutes down and he feels great:

"Some nights I feel a little bit older than 38," Kidd said. "But, I feel great physically. I do feel good. Coach

[Rick Carlisle] has kept my minutes down."

Kidd is averaging 33.4 minutes a game this season, down from 36.0 last year. Doesn’t sound like much? Consider that an additional 2.6 minutes a game of bench time adds up to 182 minutes of additional rest through 70 games. Kidd and Jason Terry are the only Mavs to play in every game this season."

Jason came out earlier than usual in the first period after getting his fingers bent back on an awkward play. But he returned just two minutes later and immediately found teammate Shawn Marion for a jumper. Soon thereafter, he hit Peja Stojakovic for three to pull the Mavs to within six, 23-17, by the end of the first.

The Mavs trailed deep into the second, but Jason found Dirk at the four-minute mark for a layup that gave Dallas a 41-37 lead. Minnesota quickly knotted the game back up at 45, but at the end of the half, No. 2’s selfless dishing put the Mavs in front at the break. Jason found teammates on back-to-back possessions to give his team a 49-45 lead at halftime.

J-Kidd continued to showcase his innate ability to see the floor during the third as he racked up six assists on 10 Dallas field goals. He found, among others, Jason Terry, Roddy Beaubois and Peja Stojakovic for three, pushing the Mavs to a 76-72 advantage heading for the final frame.

Minnesota surged to a one-point lead in the first half of the fourth quarter, but Carlisle called a quick timeout and Jason re-entered the game. From there, things began to run much more smoothly the rest of the way.

After the timeout, and Dallas back under the command of their floor general, the Mavs reeled of an 8-2 run to take the lead for good. The spurt was capped when J-Kidd found Dirk for a layup to give the Mavericks a four-point lead, 98-94. They carried that edge to the victory.

NEXT UP
Jason and the Mavs remain in a fight for second-place in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Lakers and sit just one game back of LA.

But it doesn’t get any easier in Dallas’ final 11 games of the season. ESPN Dallas’ Caplan described the Mavs’ upcoming schedule:

"The Mavs are ready for what might be their toughest road trip of the season, a six-game, 10-day journey that includes games against their potential first- and second-round foes: the Trail Blazers and Lakers."

Coach Rick Carlisle told Mavs Moneyball that he is looking forward to his team being tested as the playoffs approach:

"To become really playoff ready there are some real positives to playing a tough schedule and a tough road schedule,” Carlisle said. "Those are the hardest conditions to play under in the playoffs, and a lot of teams we’re playing are playoff teams or playoff-caliber teams. So it’s an opportunity for us.”

J-Kidd believes that Dallas’ depth will come in handy on the trip:

"It’s a 10-day trip. We’ve got three back-to-backs. So for us to be a deep team is definitely something that is to our advantage, having so many guys you can go to," he said. "It starts in Utah and we’ve just gotta take it one game at a time."

The trip begins with the Jazz on Saturday night at 8 p.m. CST and that game can be viewed locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

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