On Saturday, Jason Kidd accomplished a feat that only two other NBA players his age had before: capture the elusive triple-double.
Jason dished out 13 assists, scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Dallas Mavericks 126-108 blowout win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
The performance was J-Kidd’s second triple-double of the season but his first since turning 37. He has racked up 105 in his career, placing him in the No. 3 spot for all-time triple doubles. He trails only Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson.
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said Jason’s triple-double was a result of his aggressive play, as he told DallasBasketball.com.
"He came out with such great urgency at the start of the game," Carlisle said. "Bang-bang, he hits two jump shots at the beginning of the game, and that really set the tone for us."
Kings head coach and former Maverick staff member Paul Westphal was a bit more poetic when he reflected on J-Kidd’s performance.
"It’s beautiful to watch him play," Westphal said. "He fills up the stat sheet but doesn’t play for stats. He just plays for making the right play every time and he gets them to the right situation. To have as much energy and conditioning as he has at this time of year, at this stage of his career is extremely remarkable."
While everyone was raving about Jason’s incredible performance, No. 2 didn’t want it to take away from teammate Dirk Nowitzki’s 39 points against the Kings.
"We’re going to him no matter what. We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, we have too many other weapons. He got going in the third, but we didn’t do anything different. We play our type of game, push the ball, move the ball, and he got a lot of good looks."
He went on to say that the 18-point win sent a message to every playoff-bound team.
"We had to send a message," Kidd said. "That we were here to play."
BLAZING THE TRAIL
Before toppling Sacramento, the Mavericks faced the Portland Trailblazers Friday night, a team they had yet to beat.
The game was crucial in capturing the No. 2 playoff seed and the Mavs edged the Trailblazers 83-77 and claimed the Southwest Conference title.
Jason grabbed 12 boards, dished out six assists and came up with three steals in the victory.
NEXT UP
The Mavs face the Los Angeles Clippers tonight at 9:30 CST. Catch the game locally on Fox Sports Network and coast to coast on NBA TV.
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