Quite a lot has happened in the last month for Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks.

Thirty days ago, the Mavs were in the midst of a six-game losing streak and wondering what had gone wrong. But after Wednesday’s 102-100 win over the Sacramento Kings pushed their winning streak to 10 games and their overall record to a whopping 37-15, Jason noted how far they have come so quickly:

"It’s funny it’s changed pretty fast for us," he said. "We had lost six in a row and I thought we were going in the wrong direction. And then we started to get a little healthier, started playing defense like we did in the beginning of the season, and that’s helped us. But we’re not looking at it as if we’ve won 10 in a row or one in a row. We’re just trying to get back to where we were at the beginning of the season."

Jason was outstanding again on Wednesday as he poured in 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and a steal. Jason’s five dimes tied for the team lead and, according to Mavs Moneyball, it was the 42nd time this season that J-Kidd has led Dallas in assists. The Mavs are 32-10 in those 42.

But in typical J-Kidd fashion, the future hall-of-fame point guard wasn’t taking credit after the game and was instead quick to give much of the credit for the victory to his teammate, J.J. Barea, who scored 20 points off the bench:

"You look at J.J. and a lot of people feel like he shouldn’t be in the league, but his heart is as big as his body and he’s a competitor," No. 2 said. "And what we all love about J.J. is no matter how many minutes he plays, he plays hard and he works hard. And you can see the hard work paying off. It helps when we can stretch the defense and you can throw your fastball right down the middle. And he’s our fastball, maybe our change-up when Roddy

[Beaubois] gets back."

It took a full two minutes before either team was able to score Wednesday, but the Mavs struck first and jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. The Kings answered with an 8-2 run of their own and at the six-minute mark J-Kidd helped to knot the game at 10 when he found newcomer Peja Stojakavic for a mid-range jumper.

Jason hit the first of his four triples two minutes later to give the Mavs a 15-14 edge. But the Kings again responded to the deficit with a big run (14-5) to take a 28-20 lead by the end of the first quarter.

After a brief rest on the bench, Jason re-entered the game at the four-minute mark of the second with his team trailing 43-41. The veteran point guard then took matters into his own hands, draining back-to-back triples to put the Mavs ahead 53-45.

Then, with the clock winding down on the half, Jason penetrated the lane and made everyone believe he was going for the buzzer-beating layup. But instead he dished a no-look pass to a wide-open Brian Cardinal in the corner for a three at the horn. Jason’s point-assist outburst in the final two minutes pushed the Mavs to a 56-47 halftime lead.

Coach Rick Carlisle noted that the final minutes of the first half were crucial to the outcome of the game:

"The most important stretch I thought was the last four minutes of the first half when we closed out on a run and got a lead," Carlisle said. "But we’ve got to help ourselves create those runs earlier in the game."

No. 2 opened up the scoring in the third with a jumper from just beyond the elbow. He later extended the Mavs advantage to five points, 89-84, midway through the final frame, with his final trey from the corner.

During the next four minutes the Kings clawed back and managed to take the lead, 95-94. But the Mavs responded quickly and once again found a way to win as J-Kidd fed the ball to Jason Terry, who hit a triple to give the Dallas a 97-95 edge that they would carry to the victory. Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas described what he called the play of the game:

"On a possession in which all five Mavericks touched the ball, Terry knocked down a 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes remaining to give the Mavs the lead for good. Chandler kept the play alive by soaring for a lob pass from Barea in traffic and kicking the ball out to Nowitzki while falling down. Nowitzki swung the ball to Jason Kidd, who kicked it to Terry on the right wing. After hitting the shot with a King closing out, Jet celebrated by busting out the wings, of course."

Carlisle was proud of the way J-Kidd and the Mavs responded late in the game:

"Tough game and we knew it was going to be tough going in," he said. "They are a persistent team. They play well at home. We didn’t play our best game. We had some guys…well, Dirk struggled with the wrist obviously so we needed to have some balance and needed to make some plays down the stretch."

NEXT UP
The Mavs have won 10-straight games for the second time this season and will be looking to make it 11 in-a-row against the Denver Nuggets tonight in the second game of a back-to-back.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas notes that what the Mavs face is one of the most difficult back-to-backs in all of basketball:

"It’s a dreaded West Coast/Denver back-to-back. The butt end of that ranks among the most brutal road challenges in the NBA. It’s tough when you lose an hour in flight — the Mavs got to their hotel at 2:40 a.m. — and have to deal with high altitude and heavy legs."

Nonetheless, Carlisle, as quoted by Mavs Moneyball, expects his team to do well:

"We’ve just got to play our game and play it well," he said. "Denver is a tough place to play because of the altitude and it’s tougher because they’ve got a good team. So, we’ll do what we’ve got to do."

Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CST and the game will be televised nationally on TNT.

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