Jason Kidd truly does do it all.
No. 2 is well known for his ability to create for his teammates, pull down rebounds from the point and stroke the occasional clutch three, but on Wednesday, he pulled out a trick that fans of J-Kidd don’t often see.
Jason put an end to any hopes the New Jersey Nets had at winning when he blocked a layup by Brook Lopez with just 36 seconds left in the game, securing the Dallas Mavericks’ 13th consecutive win.
The Mavs now hold the longest win streak the NBA has seen all season and tied the third longest streak in team history. They are just two and a half games behind the struggling Los Angeles Lakers who sit atop of the Western Conference.
J-Kidd put up a team-high 20 points in the 96-87 win over the New Jersey Nets last night, 15 from beyond the arc. The last of his handful of threes put the Mavs up 90-85 heading into the final two minutes. He also pitched in nine assists, four steals and four rebounds in a whopping 44 minutes on the court.
No. 2’s three-point flurry balanced out Nowitzki’s uncharacteristic 12-point night. He told the Star Telegram his team has too much talent to worry about one player having a bad night.
"Dirk wasn’t playing extremely well, but we can’t always ask him to score 20, 30 points," Kidd said. "We have too much talent. When we saw him struggling a little bit, everyone else stepped in."
Teammate Eduardo Najera said he’s amazed by Jason and finds inspiration in his youthful performance, as he told the Star Telegram.
"He’s going full speed and he’s 36," he said. "I see this old man going and getting after it and playing harder than me. That’s my motivation."
Like Jason, Najera has played for both the Nets and the Mavs. When asked how he would have handled the Kidd-Harris trade two years ago, he sided with the future Hall of Famer.
"That’s a tough decision right there,’’ he said. "Obviously, last year, it made sense [with Harris]. Now that I’m J-Kidd’s teammate and I’ve seen his whole game, it’s unbelievable. Since he’s my teammate now, I’ll go with J-Kidd."
NEXT UP
J-Kidd and the Mavs face the New York Knicks in game two of a four game homestand Saturday night at 7:30 CST on Fox Sports Network.
RELATED STORIES
Mavs’ 13th in row wasn’t easy (Star Telegram, March 11, 2010)
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/03/10/2031117/mavs-13th-in-row-wasnt-that-easy.html
Dallas Basketball quoteboard: What Mavs are saying about 96-87 win (DallasBasketball.com, March 11, 2010)
http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=2714
Kidd’s play inspiring for fellow veteran Najera (Star Telegram, March 11, 2010)
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/03/10/2031124/kidds-play-inspiring-for-fellow.html
Nets at Mavericks Boxscore (NBA.com, March 11, 2010)
http://www.nba.com/games/20100310/NJNDAL/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0020900959#Q4