With another overwhelming Dallas Mavericks win on Wednesday night came another short night for Jason Kidd and his fellow starters.

For the second straight game, J-Kidd played less than 30 minutes as Dallas coasted to a 100-86 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jason won’t complain about a little extra off time, but No. 2 has conditioned himself to be ready for whatever the long, grueling NBA season throws at him.

"The biggest thing for me as I’ve gotten older is not to get out of shape," he said. "If that means playing in the summertime or on the Olympic team or national team, I try to do that. This last summer, I got a lot of rest but then I started working out just so I am in shape and ready to go."

In the 28 minutes he did play on Wednesday, Jason showed up all over the floor, finishing with five points, five rebounds, four assists and a Mavs’ high four steals.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, is happy to get his starters a rest, while getting his bench players some important minutes. But he knows that when they’re required to play big minutes, Jason and his fellow vets will be ready, as he told Jeff Miller of the Dallas Morning News:

"He’s always meticulous in his preparation, as are Dirk

[Nowitzki] and ‘Jet’ [Jason Terry] and Caron [Butler] and Shawn Marion – the guys that are core veteran guys," Carlisle said. "I expect those guys are going to be ready to play and play at a high level, so I can’t say I’m surprised. This is the standard they set for themselves. They always seem to meet it or exceed it."

Carlisle reached 400 wins for his career with the victory and is pleased with the way the team has been able to avoid looking ahead; instead focusing on one game at a time.

"It’s progress and we’ve got to continue it. I like this group a lot. We’ve been very business-like with our approach. Guys have taken nothing for granted. And they know how important it is to put opponents away when they have the opportunity."

As part of that mantra, No. 2 and the Mavs put the T-Wolves away quite early on Wednesday.

When J-Kidd hit a long jumper from just inside the arc with six-and-a-half remaining in the first, it capped a 7-0 Dallas run and put them ahead 13-9. From there, the Mavs led until the final buzzer.

Jason added to his team-leading three-point total—he now has hit 31 on the year—when he hit one as the shot clock expired giving his team the 22-15 advantage late in the first.

In the second quarter, the Mavs extended their lead. When No. 2 found Shawn Marion for an easy 18-foot jumper, the Mavs went up by 14, 49-35.

J-Kidd finished his game with a solid showing in the third. He grabbed a rebound and added two assists, one off a nice feed to DeShawn Stevenson for a 27-foot three that gave Dallas a 71-58 lead.

Defensively, the Mavs once again held their opponent to under 40 percent from the field and, with the victory, Dallas extended their win streak to six games. They also improved their record at the American Airlines Center to 8-3 and their overall record now sits at 14-4.

NEXT UP
J-Kidd and the Mavs face a tough challenge tonight when they head to Utah to take on the Jazz. Both teams have seven game winning streaks on the line, and Coach Carlisle expects a different game from the previous two:

"Houston is beat up. Minnesota’s a young team," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said in reference to Dallas’ victims at home this week.

"We’re going to get a different kind of a test on Friday night."

The 9:30 p.m. CST tip-off is later than usual as it is the second game of ESPN’s Friday Night Double Header lineup. Fox Sports Southwest will televise locally.

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