When Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks hold a team under 90 points, it’s generally a solid recipe for victory.

Heading into their 30th contest of the season, the Mavs were 7-1 when keeping a team below the 90-point threshold.

Against the Raptors on Tuesday, Dallas fell behind early. But in the second half, Jason turned up his game on the defensive end in an attempt to get the team on the right track and finish strong. The result was 38-point second half for Toronto. But playing without star scorer Dirk Nowitzki for the first time this season, the Mavs offense fell short in an 84-76 loss.

Despite the defeat, J-Kidd, who was all over the stat sheet as he finished with seven points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal, remained optimistic given the solid defensive effort his team put forth.

"Eighty-four points is what we gave up tonight, so we gave ourselves a chance to win the ballgame." Jason said. “Giving up 84 points, you’ll take that any day of the week in this league. We feel like we had a good chance to win it."

The first quarter gave the Raptors the advantage they needed to carry the game. The Mavs shot just 4-of-15 from the floor and tied a season-low for points, scoring just 13 while allowing 23. Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle described Dallas’ slow start to open the game, as quoted by Mavs Moneyball:

"We got off to a sluggish start, particularly defensively. We only had one lead in the game when it was 1-0 to start. They got a double-digit lead in the first quarter. We made runs, but we could never get anything consistently established. I think that’s a credit to how well the Raptors played, and we just weren’t good enough."

After heading into the locker room at halftime trailing 46-40, the Mavs made a valiant attempt to retake the game. No. 2 edged his team closer with a 20-foot jumper to make the score 53-44 and moments later found Jason Terry, then Tyson Chandler to make it 56-50.

The Chandler assist was a thing of beauty, as Jason lobbed a perfect alley-oop to the 7-foot-1 center, who finished with an authoritative slam that pulled the crowd back into the game. To watch the play, replete with commentary from Dirk Nowitzki, click here.

J-Kidd got his team within three points with just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when he drained a long triple to make the score 71-68. But from then on the Mavs managed to score just six more points and the Raptors went on a 10-2 run that would seal the victory.

The loss was the first for the Mavs on the second night of a back-to-back this season. It was also just the sixth loss this year for Dallas, who is still tied for the second best record in the NBA. For that reason the Mavs won’t lose any confidence after a single loss.

"I think we have confidence," J-Kidd told the Dallas Morning News last week. "I don’t know if it’s swagger. I just think we know when we take the floor if we execute the game plan we got a chance to win, home or road."

NEXT UP
The Mavs are back in action tonight as they play host to the team with the best record in the NBA, the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs.

At 27-4, the Spurs currently sit 2.5 games ahead of the Mavericks in the division. But Dallas has already defeated San Antonio once this season, 103-94 a month ago in San Antonio. Jason pitched in 12 points, six assists and six rebounds to the cause that night.

Still, No. 2 knows that his team will have to be at the top of their game in order to win, especially with teammate Dirk Nowitzki forced to miss his second-straight game with a knee sprain:

"They’re the best team in the NBA right now," Jason said of the Spurs. "They have the best record, and they’re playing extremely well. We’re going to have our hands full. If Dirk can’t go, we’ve just got to pick up the slack until he gets back."

Luckily the Mavs are in good hands with No. 2. On Tuesday night’s broadcast, Dirk had some kind words for J-Kidd and the leadership he brings. To watch that clip, click here.

The can’t-miss game is set to begin at 8:30 p.m. CST and will be televised nationally on TNT.

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