Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks face a steep challenge tonight when they travel to take on their in-state rivals, the San Antonio Spurs.
As a member of the 2002-2003 New Jersey Nets, Jason’s title dreams were derailed by a Gregg Popovich led Spurs team and having been through plenty of tusssles with the Spurs in his career, J-Kidd told the Dallas Morning News what San Antonio’s’ secret to success is.
"They’re scoring, and they’re playing defense," Kidd said. "Pop knows how to make adjustments with the pieces of the puzzle that he has. And he has guys who can score."
Despite the denial of Jason’s most recent shot at a title by the Spurs, No. 2 went on to say how he respects Popovich as a coach:
"He’s about defense, and he’s a great coach. He understands how to handle people and that’s why he’s won championships. You have to worry about them. They can get hot from the perimeter and go from being down five or six to up 12. They’re shooting the three well, and we got to take that part of the game away."
The Mavs lead the Southwest Division by two games but they and the Spurs have split their two meetings this season.
Dallas lost 92-83 in San Antonio on November 11, a game in which Jason managed only five points, but dished out a game-high nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. The Mavs extracted revenge a week later with a 99-94 win in an overtime thriller. Jason managed only two points but handed out eight more assists and grabbed a season-high 11 boards.
The tiebreaking game is tonight at 7:30 on KTXA.
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Dallas Mavericks face an offensive juggernaut in Spurs (Dallas Morning News, Jan. 8, 2010)
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