With all the talk of Jason Kidd’s three-pointers as the difference in the Mavericks’ Game 1 win on Saturday, J-Kidd has noted that one thing is going unnoticed: the play of the Dallas defense.

The Mavs limited Portland to just 81 points in Game 1, the Blazers’ lowest point total in nearly a month. No. 2 thinks a little credit is due:

"Nobody is talking about our defense," he said. "Everybody thinks about us as a team that scores 100 points but to win championships, you’ve got to play defense and we did a good job (in Game 1)."

The Dallas defense forced Portland into 13 turnovers. And while Blazers star forward LaMarcus Aldridge went off (27 points on 12-of-20), the compliments to his game, Brandon Roy and Gerald Wallace, combined to hit just 5-of-20 shots.

No. 2 knows that good players like Wallace and Roy won’t stay down forever and with that said, the Mavs will have to do a better job on Aldridge going forward as well:

"Aldridge got a lot of easy baskets in that first half, especially that first quarter. But we’ve got to make it tough. I mean, he touches the ball for a reason. We just have to make it a little bit tougher and make other guys score."

When Game 2 tips tonight, Jason expects the defense to continue to play at their highest level.

"We know we’re in for a fight. Portland is a very good team, well-coached, so to get off to a good start is a plus for us," Kidd concluded. "This is the same position we were in last year. We beat San Antonio at home and then we lost the next three. So, the big thing is for us to protect home and we can’t give a game away, working so hard to get Game 1 and then turn around Game 2 and give it away."

A CHANGE IN FORM
After practice on Sunday, Jason revealed that the key to his big shooting night on Saturday was the way he gripped the ball on his shot.

Jaime Aron of the Associated Press explains:

Soon after Jason Kidd rejoined the Dallas Mavericks in 2008, he made a savvy move. He asked Dirk Nowitzki for advice about shooting 3-pointers.

Some tips he used, some he didn’t. Among the discards was spreading out the first two fingers on his shooting hand.

Earlier this month, during some forced days off and in the midst of an awful shooting slump, Kidd finally decided to give it a try. The Portland Trail Blazers probably wish he hadn’t.

J-Kidd calls the spreading of the fingers "The V," for the shape it forms on the ball, and he credited the use of the technique with his 6-of-10 showing from beyond the arc in Game 1:

"It’s something that’s helped me keep the ball straight," Kidd said. "Short or long, as I learn as a shooter, those are easy to fix. Going left or right, those are a little bit harder."

After neglecting it for so long, Jason doesn’t plan to push his new technique away again:

"I plan on doing it until I retire," Kidd said, smiling.

NEW GAMEPLAN?
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle knows he is blessed with a team full of players that can beat an opponent at anytime.

"We’re a strength-in-numbers team," Carlisle said. "We have a superstar in Dirk and, in my opinion, we have a superstar player in Jason Kidd because of the impact he has. And we have a lot of guys with the ability to step up in a big way."

J-Kidd stepped up on Saturday and his stellar shooting has forced the Blazers to rethink their gameplan to defend him. Particularly, Jason’s point guard counterpart Andre Miller was left contemplating his approach:

"My friends talked about when he came into the league he wasn’t a shooter," Miller told ESPN Dallas. "But, he’s still shooting the ball. I think he’s up there all-time 3-pointers (3rd in NBA), so I’m aware of that.

"It’s just that you still want to be able to pressure him and then help defense and then contest his shot. I think after the first couple of shots, he just let it go after that, just let it go and some other shots came. He knew that the team needed a little bit of offense with other guys not being in a rhythm.

"I think I over-helped a little bit as far as off of Jason Kidd and allowing him to just take those 3s," Miller said. "He got a couple when the shot clock was running down. It’s just being more aware defensively."

But the Mavericks know if Portland decides to pressure Jason’s shot more, it won’t be a bother. In fact it might aid the Dallas attack. As the most intuitive passer in league history, Jason will find other ways to contribute, writes Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

"The problem for the Blazers is that the Mavericks aren’t counting on Kidd’s 3-pointers. They don’t really have a primary scoring option behind Dirk Nowitzki. Kidd had the hot hand Saturday. Tonight, it could be guard Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, J.J. Barea or Peja Stojakovic.

But it all starts with Kidd setting things up.

"We are unpredictable," Terry said. "That is more important than who is getting the shot. Dirk is going to get his touches. But to pinpoint who else is going to get the ball, that is not our game. That works in our favor. If you can have unpredictability, it makes it tough on the defense."

Jason certainly isn’t anticipating a repeat performance:

"I hope I don’t have to score 24 a night," Kidd said. "Hopefully (being a scoring threat) is just going to open up the paint for my guys to get to the basket. At the same time, I’ve still got to be able to knock down open shots during the series."

Game 2 tips off from the American Airlines Center tonight at 8:30 CT and can be seen nationwide on TNT.

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