With his team in need of a signature win to extend their streak, Jason Kidd stepped up to guide the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night like only he can.

Struggling to find ways to win with a roster full of injured personnel, the Mavericks called on J-Kidd to take the reigns and that’s exactly what the 18-year-veteran did.

Jason went 5-of-9 from the floor, and a near-perfect 4-5 from three-point range for a total of 14 points to tie his season-high.

Behind J-Kidd’s sharpshooting, the Mavericks were able to edge past the Spurs, 106-99, at the American Airlines Center.

But humble as always, Jason deflected credit to his teammates after Saturday’s big win, their third straight.

"I think everybody stepped up. Everybody came to play tonight," he said. "We knew how important this game was, and as the season is getting closer to the end, we’ve got to play better basketball. Tonight is a perfect example of that."

In addition to his 14 points, J-Kidd also added 10 dimes, for his first double-double of the 2011-2012 season, and finished the night with five rebounds.

Yet it was his leadership on both sides of the ball that meant the most to the Mavs.

"We

[wanted] to be aggressive, penetrate, make the extra pass, and guys were knocking down shots," he said. "Defensively, we wanted to take away the three. We know how San Antonio can shoot the three, so we just tried to take it away. But late in the game, they just started knocking them down."

Dallas led by as much as 13 in the third quarter and appeared ready to run away with the win. But when San Antonio began to mount a comeback, J-Kidd showed his team that they had to continue to clean up the boards — something that head coach Rick Carlisle emphasized before the game.

"The rebounding is a big stat when you play these guys," Carlisle explained. "They had 24 second-chance points last night in Oklahoma City and that was the difference in the game. And it was an emphasis for us. The good thing was we had a lot of guys who had three or more rebounds. Carter had six, Kidd had five, Terry had three, Odom got three, Brandan had a big night.

"Because of the 3-point shot, you get long rebounds. So, everybody’s got to stay in there and scramble to get them. We did a good job there and we made big plays."

However, J-Kidd’s defensive performance was secondary to his offensive explosion, which took the Spurs — particularly point guard Tony Parker, who was held to only 13 points — by surprise.

"He shot the ball well," Parker said. "I give him credit on having one of his biggest offensive games of the year. He played great tonight by making shots and getting his teammates the ball."

Despite leading by double digits in the second, the Mavs entered the locker room with a lead of just two. But the opening minutes of the third quarter perfectly showcased J-Kidd’s elite point guard prowess. No. 2 served up assists to four different teammates in just under three minutes and then capped the dime party with a trey of his own to give the Mavs a 60-54 lead. The Mavs stretched that lead as high as 13.

Check out Jason lob to Rodrigue Beaubois for the alley-oop below:

San Antonio pulled back within five early in the fourth, but J-Kidd’s fire and urgency were exactly what the Mavs needed to kick-start their offense and hold off San Antonio. The 106 points for the Mavericks mark their second-highest point total since Jan. 30. It also allowed Dallas to finish with a perfect 3-0 record on the team’s week-long homestand.

NEXT UP
J-Kidd and the Mavs hit the road in Denver to take on the Nuggets on Monday night where they hope to sever their seven-game road losing streak.

It’s the franchise’s longest losing streak on the road in more than a dozen years, and one that they don’t wish to extend. J-Kidd hopes that Dallas can carry Saturday night’s offensive fire through the rest of the season.

Monday’s tip-off is at 9:30 p.m. CST and the game can be seen on TNT.

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