Tuesday night not only brought a win over the Houston Rockets, but Jason Kidd and four other Mavericks earned a coveted spot on the NBA All-Star ballot.
J-Kidd is joined by teammates Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion on the candidate card.
Jason is no stranger to the All-Star game. He has played in eight in his 18 NBA seasons, and has accumulated 58 points, 68 assists, 29 rebounds and 23 steals wearing an All-Star jersey.
To vote for Jason and his teammates to represent the Mavericks when the All-Star game is played in their hometown of Dallas on February 14 click here.
 Jason and the other Mavericks who were named to the All-Star ballot (Getty Images). |
BURNING THE ROCKETS
Hours after their names were announced for voting, No. 2 and his all-star caliber teammates burned the Houston Rockets 121-103 last night. J-Kidd racked up 11 assists, five points and three rebounds.
The Mavs looked sluggish in the first half, and it took the harsh words of head coach Rick Carlisle to kick-start the team, as J-Kidd told ESPN.com:
"He moved some of the furniture around. And it was well-deserved. We all took notice of that."
When asked what would have happened if the Mavericks didn’t pick up their game, Kidd joked:
"There would have been more than furniture moved."
After Carlisle’s pep talk, No. 2 took it upon himself to get his team going.
Teammate Shawn Marion commented to the Dallas Morning News about Kidd’s performance.
"That kid was doing whatever he wanted to in the first half. J-Kidd said he wanted it, and that was it. He took care of business."
No. 2 further proved that the Mavs mean business on defense this season. He kept Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks to just three points in the third quarter, as he told the Dallas Morning News of his strategy:
"I just tried to make him play a little defense to take a little steam or wind out of him, and I think it helped a little in the second half. We got a lot of wide-open looks, and we got stops on the other end, and that helped us get that lead."
THE KIDD-DAMPIER COMBO
No. 2’s defense wasn’t the only highlight of the blowout. Teammate Eric Dampier finished with a double-double, something that J-Kidd is well known for. Dampier finished up with 20 rebound and 14 points.
Dampier gave Jason credit for his performance in an interview with NBA.com:
"I think the guys are looking for me more around the basket and a lot of that is because of Jason Kidd. He has the ball in his hands a lot, so I try to present myself under the basket and try to score whenever I get the ball inside."
The two compliment each other well, and J-Kidd told NBA.com how he feels about his teammate’s performance:
"He’s been huge and he’s helped us out big time, and not just on the defensive end, but on the offensive end where he’s been aggressive. He wants the ball down low. He wants to be involved on the offensive end and not just set picks and get rebounds."
NEXT UP
The Mavericks travel across the state to face the San Antonio Spurs tonight at 7:30 p.m. on KTXA.
RELATED STORIES
Once kick-started, the Dallas Mavericks roll, 121-103 (Dallas Morning News, Nov. 11, 2009)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/111109dnspomavslede.2a4969f23.html
Coach rips team, and Mavs go on tear (ESPN.com, Nov. 11, 2009)
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/columns/story?columnist=macmahon_tim&id=4643531
Dampier’s double-double powers Mavs past Rockets (NBA.com, Nov. 11, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20091110/HOUDAL/recap.html
Dallas Mavericks defense gets going after slow start to rout Houston (Star Telegram, Nov. 11, 2009)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1752874.html
Houston at Dallas Boxscore (NBA.com, Nov. 11, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/mavericks/schedule/index.html