Sporting a fresh pair of his star player’s signature shoes, Jason Kidd stepped up to the podium on Saturday night after a 41-point Mavericks win in their home opener with a smile, ready to talk about Luka Doncic yet again.
But while the media raved about Doncic’s performance on the offensive end, where the namesake of the Jordan Brand Luka Doncic 1s posted a line that is becoming all too familiar — a triple-double tease with 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds despite playing just 30 minutes in the blowout 137-96 victory — Coach Kidd wanted to talk about the Dallas star’s defense.
Because while Doncic’s offensive brilliance can certainly take the Mavericks on a deep playoff run — see last year’s Conference Finals run for evidence — its Luka’s offseason mission to make himself a better all around player that could take the Mavs to a place they last went when J-Kidd was running the point, and that’s to a championship parade through downtown Dallas.
So when Doncic played tough defense on Saturday against another title contender, the Memphis Grizzlies — beyond his two blocks and two steals — helping to force 17 Grizzlies turnovers and hold fellow star Ja Morant to just 20 points, J-Kidd took notice, and he wanted everyone else to as well.
“He’s playing the game at a different level right now. [Offensively] he’s picked up where he left off last season,” Jason said. “You guys can talk about his offense, but I thought his defense was incredible tonight. One of the best defensive performances I saw. He’ll tell you too, because he had blocked shots and steals. Make sure you ask him.”
When asked, Luka was modest about his performance, perhaps taking a cue from his coach, who became known for his modesty when discussing his own play during his career.
“I think it was good,” Doncic said of his defense. “Like I said before the season, I’ve got to improve that. I think today was great, but it’s just one game, so I’ve got to continue to do that.”
A fair assessment to say the least. But that one game was a big one for the Mavs, coming off a gut-wrenching loss on Wednesday night in Phoenix that saw them blow a 22-point lead. To come back and blow out a fellow contender, in their home opener, was just what the doctor ordered.
It started with Doncic, who was aggressive on the offensive end in the early-going, piling up 21 points on 8-of-10 from the field in the first quarter alone. He also had three assists in the first, contributing to 27 of Dallas’ 39 first quarter points as they built a 39-17 lead after one.
After the game, Coach Kidd talked about the decision to go at Morant, Memphis’ star scorer, on the offensive end, and how it helped the Mavs on the defensive end. Morant had just 20 points in the game despite shooting a very efficient 6-of-12 from the field.
“Ja is one of the best players in the world and you just try to make it tough. Watching him explode, getting to the basket…he puts so much pressure on the defense. We’re just trying to make sure we don’t let him rest on the defensive end. So we try to keep him involved. But he’s dangerous with deflections and steals. So we had to be careful with the ball, but I thought Luka and Spencer [Dinwiddie] did a really good job of running different things to get him involved.”
Dinwiddie played most of the second quarter, and had seven of his 15 points in the quarter. Christian Wood also had seven in the second, and finished with 25 points, trailing just Doncic on the scoreboard. Thanks in part to their efforts, Dallas held a 64-36 halftime advantage.
When asked about Wood’s contributions off the bench, Coach Kidd praised the new Mav for keeping it simple and doing his job on both ends of the floor.
“He’s being himself. He’s a scorer. He’s a basketball player. We’re not asking him to play football. So he’s being himself. I think he’s getting comfortable each day, as you can see, on both ends.”
Wood also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season after posting 33 with the Houston Rockets last season. He continued his strong play on both ends in the third, including a couple big dunks off passes from Doncic, and after three Dallas held onto a 28-point lead.
“I’m not asking [Wood] to do anything that he hasn’t done in the past in other places,” J-Kidd said. “For him to be able to rebound for us and then also be able to switch on different assignments, he’s showing growth on the defensive end. He’s working extremely hard on offense, but also on defense he’s spending a lot of time with our coaches.”
Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr., who scored 16 points in the win led a Mavs reserve unit that managed to get everyone on the roster in the game and tallied 69 points. Many of those came in the fourth quarter as Dallas’ reserves outscored Memphis 38-25 to close out the game. Coach Kidd was proud the Mavericks got everyone into the game and managed to close out in a way they were unable to in Phoenix.
As for the sneakers, Jason had a rave review, and hopes the Mavs can continue their winning ways in them on Tuesday when they take on the Pelicans in New Orleans.
“The Luka 1s are great. They felt great and I thought everyone who had them on looked good,” Coach Kidd said. “They’re comfortable. And they look good. I didn’t have any shoes like this growing up. We’ll see if we can continue to keep wearing them. We’re 1-0 [in them].”
Tip-off of Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans (2-1) at the Smoothie King Center is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. local time and the game can be seen on TNT.