From humble beginnings, Jason Kidd laid the groundwork for a Hall-of-Fame career in Oakland. So it was only fitting that when the Mavericks played in Oakland on Thursday night, J-Kidd put on a vintage performance.


J-Kidd’s annual return to Oakland netted him a near triple-double in the 112-103 Mavericks win (Getty Images).

Jason ended the night just one point shy of his 108th career triple-double, racking up 12 assists, 10 rebounds and nine points on 3-for-6 shooting as the Mavericks picked up a crucial road win, defeating the Golden State Warriors 112-103.

The future hall-of-famer doled out six assists and grabbed four rebounds in just the final quarter alone. He also hit the final of this three triples in the fourth, knocking down a 27-footer with 90 seconds to go to put the Mavs back up by 13 and effectively seal the game.

But though that three put him just one point shy of another triple-double, Jason didn’t force the issue to get more shots in the final minute. He missed his only try with 47.9 seconds to go and when the Mavericks got the offensive rebound, he held the ball until the clock ran down. Jason Terry put up a shot at the end of that clock and after Golden State scored with 19.3 to go, Jason had the opportunity for one more try at the basket.

Rather than take a shot at a statistical feat, No. 2 held ball as the clock ran out. After the game, he admitted he was more concerned with getting the Mavericks the win than a personal milestone:

"At that point, I thought we needed to run clock," he said.

The victory was an important one for the Mavericks, pushing them to a 33-26 record, one game closer to clinching a playoff spot in the West. Jason said the Mavs, who have won two in a row after dropping three of four and seeing their playoff position grow tenuous never doubted themselves.

"It has never been in our minds that we won’t be in the postseason," he said. "That’s what we play the game for, to see if you can get in the postseason and see if you can get hot, lock in and see if you can win a championship. Right now, guys are getting better when we take the floor. You can see the ball movement and when we score 100 points we have a pretty good record."

J-Kidd did his part to make sure the Mavs got to that magic number from the very start. He wasted no time, picking up his first rebound and assist less than two minutes into the game, dishing out a pass that led to a Dirk Nowitzki jumper. A minute later, he served up another one to Nowitzki, this time for a turnaround fadeaway shot that gave Dallas a 6-4 advantage.

J-Kidd’s three assists and three rebounds gave Dallas a little wiggle room early, and allowed the Mavs to end the first quarter up 27-20 on the Warriors.

The second quarter was quieter for No. 2, but he wasn’t any less brilliant at the point. With 2:16 remaining before the half, J-Kidd set up a perfect alley oop dunk for Rodrigue Beaubois, his fourth assist on the evening.

He followed with another dime for Dirk and, with 1:19 to go in the first half, Dallas had a 19-point lead. Nowitzki said the mere presence of No. 2 leading the offense changes the game for the Mavs:

"You know, he’s the head of the snake," Nowitzki said of J-Kidd, who dished out seven of his 12 assists to his superstar forward. "If we obviously want to play well in the playoffs or even make the playoffs here in the last seven games, we need him out there and directing everything for sure."

Jason’s ability to direct the offense is crucial to Dallas’ success, but that’s not all the can do and he made sure Golden State respected the other facets of his game as well. Late in the half with the Mavericks looking to maintain their edge going into the break, J-Kidd made certain the Warriors couldn’t play off him looking for the assists. No. 2 contributed his first trey with 16.9 seconds remaining in the second quarter to give the Mavericks a 63-45 lead. They took a 14-point lead into the intermission.

His second three of the night came in the third and extended the double-digit Mavericks lead to 16, 78-62, with 4:53 to play in the quarter. Shortly thereafter, he was given a few minutes of rest on the sideline.

As it turns out, Kidd made the most of his time on the pine, and returned to the court for the fourth on a tear that began with assists to Nowitzki on back-to-back possessions, three minutes into the final session.

But Jason was far from finished. He followed that up with assists to Nowitzki twice, Jason Terry and Brandan Wright for his 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th assists on four consecutive possessions as the Mavs put the Warriors away.

On a night where so much of the box score was filled by Jason’s contributions, it was apopro that the last score for the Mavericks was J-Kidd’s final trey, the shot coming with 1:30 remaining in regulation and putting the Mavs up by 13.

Kidd’s team-first mentality was not lost on the rest of his teammates, particularly Nowitzki who mentioned after the game that he would have made more of an effort to get J-Kidd a triple double if he’d known he was closing in on one.

"If we’d have known, we would have gotten him one or two more shots," Dirk said. "But that’s what he does, he runs the show for us, People most of the time leave him and he’s a great spot-up shooter, so he made some big shots again tonight.

Though he ended just shy of his 108th career triple-double, J-Kidd’s brilliant performance was not lost on Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, who heaped praise on his veteran whom he called a "future Hall-of-Famer."

"Never underestimate greatness," Carlisle said of Kidd. "I don’t care if that guy is 29, 39 or 49. He’s doing to do something to help you win."

The Mavs are hoping that J-Kidd can continue his recent tear as they seek to etch out a postseason spot. In the meantime, they’ll be wary of managing the 18-year-veteran’s minutes to keep him fresh.

"When you have struggles you can easily see the things that you miss when Jason’s out," Carlisle said. "I guess more than anything it speaks to the level of competitiveness that he brings to the game in general, and to our team."

NEXT UP
The Mavericks have a busy weekend ahead with games in Portland on Friday and Los Angeles against the Lakers on Sunday.

Friday’s game with the Trail Blazers tips at 9:30 p.m. CDT on ESPN.

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