Jason continues to shine orchestrating the Dallas offense, this time leading the Mavericks to a 104-99 victory over the Portland Trailblazers.

It was the sixth straight time the Mavs scored over 100 points, helped by shooting 55.1 percent from the field.

Asked about the secret to the new-look Dallas offense, J-Kidd jokingly told ESPN.com about his approach:

“Whoever is open, shoot it.”

Even with an early lead, the Mavs never relaxed, knowing that the Blazers lead the NBA in most comeback wins this season. So when Portland went on a run to get within 5 points with 7 minutes left, No. 2 entered the game and immediately settled the Mavs down.

J.Kidd nailed a 3-pointer to start the run, and then after Terry hit a layup, Jason made a tricky running jumper to put the Dallas lead back up to 10 and force the Blazers to take a timeout. Jason had another great all around game, finishing with 7 points, 10 assists, 7 boards, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.

Coach Carlisle talked about Jason’s impact on the game with Mavs Wiki:

“I thought Kidd played an amazing all around game. He ran the team, and he got huge stops defensively down the stretch on (Brandon) Roy. Kidd got rebounds and I think brought an air of confidence to our team during some periods where we were struggling. My hat is off to him.”

With Jason holding the reigns, the Mavs are a completely different team as they now have a swagger that was nowhere to be found earlier in the season. As J.Kidd told ESPN.com:

“We believe in one another. We believe defensively and offensively that we can go out there and get some wins. The guys are playing at a high level and we are having fun doing it.”

NERVOUS ENDING
With the game seemingly over, Coach Carlisle took out his starters with 27 seconds to go and the Mavs up by 9.

But the Trailblazers showed their knack for coming back by hitting two quick treys that forced Carlisle to put Jason and the rest of the first unit back in the game.

Clutch free throws by Nowitzki and Terry closed out the game for the Mavs, who though they didn’t end as strong as they started, as Jason told the Sports Network, they did what mattered most.

“The big thing is we got the win. Portland is a tough team. They are not going to stop playing and they are well coached. The lesson for us tonight was that the game is not over until it is over.”

RUNNING THE SHOW
Last night Jason again showed his basketball savvy by taking note of the Blazers weakness, which was an obvious hole at the point position, and exploiting it throughout the game by attacking whoever was guarding him.

One of the best floor generals of all time, Jason talked about being given the keys to the Mavs offense with NBA.com:

“The fun part of this game is calling the plays and just playing. Everyone is touching the ball.”

Some might ask why it took so long for Carlisle to make this decision, but not J.Kidd:

“That’s not a question for me. I had to prove myself. I’ve figured some things out.”

PASSING OSCAR
In the first quarter, J.Kidd continued his climb up the all time leaders lists as with his 3rd assist of the game, he passed Oscar Robinson for 4th all time in assists.

With the 10 assists against the Blazers, Jason now has 9,895 assists in his career. With his current pace of 8.3 assists per game, he’ll pass Magic (who has 10,141 assists) for 3rd all time later this season.

NEXT UP
The Mavs have another tough test as the face the Utah Jazz at home Thursday night at 8:30 pm on TNT. A match up with potential playoff implications, Jason and the red hot Mavs will look to take advantage of a banged up Jazz squad.

Recently, J.Kidd’s outside shot has been on fire as his 39% from behind the arc eclipses his career percentage of 34%. With Williams hindered by a thigh injury, Jason will look to take advantage and get to the paint at every opportunity. Getting to the line could be a deciding factor in the game, as the Mavs are the second best team in the league shooting nearly 82% from the charity stripe and therefore expect Jason to push his teammates to attack the basket.

RELATED STORIES
Trail Blazers 99, Mavericks 104 (ESPN.com, Feb. 4th, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290204006
Kidd Jumps on assist list as Mavs hold off Blazers (ESPN.com, Feb. 4th, 2009)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=290204006&campaign=rsssrch&source=jason+kidd
Mavericks momentum continues with victory over Trail Blazers (MavsWiki, Feb. 4th, 2009)
http://www.mavswiki.com/index.php?title=02/04/2009_Mavericks_vs._Portland
Howard paces Mavs over Blazers (The Sports Network, Feb. 5th, 2009)
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nba/news/news.aspx?id=4209316
Old dogs teach new kids a lesson or two (NBA.com, Feb. 5th, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/art_garcia/02/04/analysis.blazers.mavs20090204/
Jazz vs. Mavericks (Jazz.com, Feb. 5th, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/jazz/schedule/0809_jazz_vs_mavs020509.html