Fresh off their most grueling road trip of the season, a six-game jaunt that included two potential playoff foes and three back-to-backs, the Mavericks are back home tonight looking to cap the season on a high-note.

After a 3-and-3 trip, Dallas is happy to be home and Jason Kidd told Mavs Moneyball, reflecting on the trip, that it was not ideal, but there are no excuses for their last three losses.

"Six in 10 days is no fun," he said. "But it’s on the schedule. We’ll look back at those last three and we got some things that we have to get better at. We missed some wide-open looks. That’s been the case this whole road trip. But the big thing is we go back home. We just have to finish up, get some more wins and get ready for the playoffs."

That starts tonight with another West playoff competitor, the Denver Nuggets. The Mavericks have not defeated a Western Conference playoff team since January 19th when they topped the Lakers. Since then, they’ve gone 0-8 against the likes of the Nuggets, Lakers, Spurs, Hornets, Grizzlies and Blazers.

The Blazers made it eight straight on Sunday with a 104-96 win over Dallas. No. 2 finished with four assists, three steals, two rebounds and a block in just 27 minutes of play.

The Mavs were without center Tyson Chandler and his absence hurt as they lost to the team that they would see in the first round of the playoffs, if the season ended today.

Jason started out strong, finding teammates Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki on back-to-back possessions midway through the first. Then, with just under two remaining, J-Kidd found Jason Terry for a triple to pull Dallas to within six, 23-17.

During the second, the Mavs kept pace with the Blazers until the four-minute mark, when Portland reeled off a 14-5 run to end the half with the deficit at 15 points, 61-46. The Mavs tried to claw their way back in the third but they were never able to gain the upper hand.

Should the Mavericks finish as the No. 3 seed (they currently lead Oklahoma City by two games for the spot) the Trail Blazers are one of three potential playoff foes, the others being New Orleans and Memphis. Jason noted that Portland would be a formidable challenge come playoff time:

"They’re going to give anybody trouble, no matter who plays them," he said. "If we play them, we’re going to have our hands full. When they come in with bigger guards against our smaller guards, it puts some pressure on us defensively. We’ve got to be able to put pressure on them on the offensive end. That’s something that, if we do play them, we’ll have to look at."

DEFENSE PICKS UP
The loss to the Blazers was the second half of a back-to-back that began with a loss at Golden State on Saturday.

The good news for Dallas was that their defense was solid, limiting one of the league’s most high-octane offenses under 100 points. But, as is apt to happen at times throughout the 82-game season, the Mavs offense had one of those days.

Jason said the shots were there, but just wouldn’t go down in the 99-92 defeat, as quoted by Mavs Moneyball:

"We didn’t make shots. We had great opportunities, great looks, but we just didn’t make them."

J-Kidd finished the game with three points, six assists, three rebounds and a steal.

Once again it was No. 2 who got the offensive motor humming early as he dished to Nowitzki on back-to-back possessions in the first period to give the Mavs a 5-2 advantage. Two minutes later, Jason fed center Tyson Chandler, and then nailed a jumper himself, from just outside the elbow, which made the score 14-11.

Over the next three minutes, No. 2 found his teammates for easy buckets three more times, helping the Mavs keep pace with the Golden State offense before taking a breather with a minute remaining in the period.

The Mavs continued their solid play in the second, taking a two point lead, 50-48, into the locker room.

But the offense slowed to start the second half and the Warriors put together a 13-0 run to take an 11-point lead with four minutes remaining in the quarter. By the end of three, the Mavs trailed 72-67. But Dallas couldn’t complete the comeback in the fourth and fell by a margin of seven.

Jason claimed that it was a simple case of missed shots and said fatigue was in no way a factor, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News wrote:

"Jason Kidd, one of two Mavericks to play in every game this season, said he believes any talk of being tired is a matter of perception.

"It always looks like you’re tired when you don’t make shots," Kidd said. "And when you do make shots you get that extra adrenaline and you’re bouncing around. So that’s the nature of the game."

A CHANCE TO REST?
As Sefko mentioned, through 77 games, J-Kidd is one of only two Mavericks, the other being Jason Terry, to have played in every Dallas game this season.

With five games left before the playoffs, coach Rick Carlisle is searching for a chance to give his point man a break.

"He’s going to get some rest here down the stretch," Carlisle said. "We’re going to make sure he’s fresh…. We were able to get his minutes down. But again, he’s going to get a game or two of rest here at some point."

That point isn’t likely to come tonight against Denver, as the Mavericks look to stop their plight against playoff-bound foes. But upcoming games against the Clippers, Suns and Rockets all offer the opportunity for No. 2 to rest before the Mavs wrap the season a week from tonight at home against the Hornets.

"We need to make sure that Jason’s fresh going into the playoffs," Carlisle said.

NEXT UP
For now, J-Kidd and the Mavs will play within the friendly confines of the American Airlines Center for the next three games.

Against Denver tonight, Jason is looking for his team to build some momentum so they can finish these last five games of the regular season playing their best ball:

"You want to be healthy and you want to be playing pretty good basketball going

[into the playoffs]," he said. "The big thing is you want to finish on a high note."

Tonight’s tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST. The game will be televised locally of Fox Sports Southwest.

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