Jason Kidd provided the type of defense that the Mavericks were looking for on Thursday night, but even that wasn’t enough to corral the surging Oklahoma City Thunder.

All good things must come to an end at some point, and on Thursday night the Mavericks saw what was a seven-game playoff winning streak snapped, 106-100, by the Thunder.

J-Kidd tied a single game, playoff-high for steals in a game with five and in the process passed Karl Malone for 10th on the all-time playoff steals list. But Jason would trade the numbers for the victory that the Mavs couldn’t pull off, sending the series back to Oklahoma City for Game 3 on Saturday knotted at 1-1.


J-Kidd had five steals in Game 2 and defended Kevin Durant well, but the Mavs head to OKC tied at 1 in the series.

The steal total matched that of the entire Oklahoma City squad, and what was perhaps more impressive was the fact that No. 2 committed just one turnover. But that one was costly. It came after a miscommunication with teammate Jason Terry late in the fourth quarter with Dallas trailing by six.

With 1:47 remaining in the fourth, Jason pick-pocketed Kevin Durant, on whom he supplied great defense late in the game, and started a fast break. On the other end, the Thunder forced No. 2 to penetrate and as he cut into the lane, he saw Jason Terry standing in the corner waiting for a three. But by the time J-Kidd fired off a pass, Terry was moving toward the wing and the ball sailed into the seats.

"I thought he was going to stand still," Jason said.

Terry said the miscommunication wasn’t the fault of either player.

"I’m breaking this way and the ball went that way. So, it happens," Terry said. "It’s not one play that cost us the game tonight. It was our all-around aggression to maintain that for 48 minutes."

Along with his five steals, Jason scored 13 points to go along with seven assists and five rebounds. He got the Mavs going early on with some slick shooting from beyond the arc.

No. 2 drained his first triple less than two minutes into the first quarter to put the Mavs ahead, 5-4. Following an empty possession, Jason got his chance once again and didn’t disappoint the hometown crowd at the American Airlines Center as he drilled yet another trey from the wing.

After an assist to Dirk Nowitzki put the Mavs ahead 11-9, Jason continued firing on all cylinders. He handed the ball to Shawn Marion for an easy bucket and then, in spectacular fashion, dished back-to-back alley-oop passes to big man Tyson Chandler to give the Mavs a healthy 21-11 lead. Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas noted that it was Jason who had the Mavs rolling in the first.

"Jason Kidd got the Mavericks off and running, draining a couple of 3-pointers and a pair of crowd-pleasing alley-oop dunks to Tyson Chandler. Seven Mavs scored in the quarter and Dirk Nowitzki needed only seven points to help the Mavs put up 31 points."

After leading his squad to a five-point lead, 31-26, at the end of one, Jason took a short breather in the second. He re-entered the game at the five-minute mark with Dallas still leading, 48-43.

The Thunder began to mount a small run, but No. 2 hit a mid-range jumper at the top of the circle and then fed Chandler again to maintain a slim lead. By half, however, Oklahoma City had managed to put together another run and the Mavs went to the locker room down by two.

A cold shooting start to the third by the Mavs kicked momentum the way of Oklahoma City. Dallas went nearly four minutes to start the second half without a bucket while the Thunder put together a double-digit run to build their lead. Finally, J-Kidd took matters into his own hands and hit his third three-pointer of the night, from the right wing, to halt the run. Caplan wrote of the Mavs’ scoring troubles at the time:

"If the Oklahoma City Thunder can’t even this series tonight, they will remember a lost third quarter. The Mavs were scoreless for nearly the first four minutes and the Thunder built a 65-57 lead as part of an 11-0 run.

Then Jason Kidd ended a field-goal drought that went back to the 2:36 mark of the second quarter, and another run was on."

Jason’s trey got the Mavs going on an 8-0 burst, the final three points coming after No. 2 found teammate DeShawn Stevenson for a three, which knotted the score at 65 apiece. By the end of the third the Mavs had scored just 19 points in the quarter, but they had also held the Thunder to just 18 and trailed by one, 77-76.

Thanks to Jason’s defense, the game remained close throughout the fourth. While guarded by J-Kidd, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant managed just two points in the final eight minutes of the fourth. It was another example of Jason’s continued strong work on the NBA’s best throughout the postseason, as Maurice London of SB Nation Dallas wrote:

"He played excellent defense. Kidd had five steals and contributed to the continued frustration of Westbrook and even locked up on Durant effectively at times."

The Mavs had pulled to within six points, 104-98 with 36.7 seconds left when Dirk Nowitzki drew a foul behind the 3-point line. Dirk, who had hit 33 straight free throws since the series began, hit the first, but missed the second before finally dropping in the third. Instead of being within three points with 36 seconds to play, the Mavs were down four and could not make up the difference. Jason talked about Dirk’s surprising miss after the game:

"I think we were all surprised. I mean it was there, it just came right back out," he said. "Again, at that point, everything has to go perfect. That cuts the lead to three and we have to get another stop."

But coach Rick Carlisle noted that it wasn’t any individual offensive play that made a difference in Game 2. Instead, it was again the team’s performance on the defensive end. He reiterated that it’s something the Mavs must improve if they hope to win the series:

"The defensive end is what we’ve got to solve and do better at,” Carlisle said. "Scoring 100 points in a playoff game should be enough to win, but not if you’re giving up 106 or 112."

NEXT UP
Jason and the Mavs will be looking to steal the momentum back on the road in Oklahoma City on Saturday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST and the game will be televised on ESPN.

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