After the Dallas Mavericks fell to the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night, Jason Kidd opined that he and his teammates needed to step up and help Dirk Nowitzki carry the load. It would be the only way, Jason said, that the Mavericks could preserve their title hopes.

In Game 4 on Tuesday, with Nowitzki battling flu-like symptoms and a high fever, many of the Mavs did in fact step up. But while the scoring load was split between Shawn Marion, Jason Terry and DeShawn Stevenson, the bare bones grunt work of holding the fort down defensively fell on J-Kidd.


Jason Kidd split his time in Game 4 defending two of the NBA’s best and helped the Mavs even the Finals at 2.

Jason did dish three assists and grab three rebounds, but his biggest impact for certain came on the other end of the floor. The future hall-of-famer’s outstanding effort, which included three steals and a block, helped Dallas to hold LeBron James to a mere eight points all game.

In addition, the Heat as a unit shot just 42 percent from the field—14 percent from beyond the arc—on their way to scoring just 83 points in the 86-83 Mavericks win. The victory knotted the hard-fought series at two games apiece with three to play.

After the game, Nowitzki lauded the efforts of the man that held the Mavs together and kept their championship hopes from crumbling.

"Kidd never ceases to amaze me," a fairly ill Nowitzki sniffled in his post game press conference. "He can dominate a game without scoring one point. We’ve seen it the last three years here together, what kind of all around player he is without even scoring. How he facilitates, how he defends, and how he runs the show is amazing. He’s been great."

Without scoring, Jason finished Game 4 with a +12 point differential, by far the highest of any Maverick in the three-point win. He maintains that the level of competition in this series and these playoffs has brought out his best, wherever it is needed. In this postseason alone, he’s aptly defended Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and now LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

"I love the competition,” J-Kidd told the Toronto Sun. "When you can play at a high level and you are surrounded with guys who play at a high level, you don’t want to be the odd one out. You want to bring your game up, no matter what age you are and you want to contribute and help your team win. And that’s what I’m trying to do."

SAVING THE GAME
On Tuesday night, Jason’s contributions to the Mavs, the things that set No. 2 apart from his peers, showed up strongest in the biggest spots.

For instance, after the Mavericks had taken a two-point lead with less than a minute to go.

A DeShawn Stevenson look to put the Mavs up by five missed and the rebound bounced out to Miami, creating an opportunity for the Heat to run and get a transition basket to tie the game. At that moment, Dwyane Wade leaked out into the open court and, as Harvey Araton of the New York Times writes, it was off to the races:

With two of the most peripherally gifted eyes in the history of the game, Jason Kidd saw the ball in the air out of his left and Dwyane Wade on the move out of his right. The left-corner 3-pointer by DeShawn Stevenson, a game-clincher if true, was off line, the ball grabbed below the rim by Mario Chalmers and soon in the munificent hands of LeBron James.

"Once LeBron got it, I knew that he always looks up," Kidd said.

And since Kidd and his 38-year-old legs were responsible for whichever Miami player happened to leak out on the fast break, and Wade is as explosive a finisher as the N.B.A. can showcase, this was trouble with a capital D.

"He was ahead of me, so that means he had the advantage," Kidd said in a mild understatement.

Jason raced towards Wade, using every bit of effort left in his legs, tired from the 40-minute grind of his 99th game of this season.

As Araton explains, No. 2 caught the NBA player with the apt nickname of "Flash" just in the nick of time.

For Kidd, this was a double-edged conundrum. If he doesn’t make the grab for Wade, the score is tied with about 30 seconds remaining. If he overcommits and fouls him from behind when he’s up in the air, it’s a dunk and a foul and the Heat has a chance for the lead.

With the margin of error so thin, Kidd’s strategy was to "get to him before he jumped because he’s so athletic."

As the ball descended into Wade’s hands, Kidd found a finishing kick belying his age, got up in the air and on top of Wade from behind, and committed the foul with perfect timing.

The game’s biggest hustle play would later get barely a mention.

"If D-Wade dunks that ball and the game is tied, the end probably evolves differently because it changes the schematics," Haywood said.

Instead Wade went to the line and missed one of his two free throws. Dirk Nowitzki put the Mavs up by three on their next possession with a brilliant driving layup and the Heat’s last-ditch effort to send the game to overtime went awry. The play by Jason, and the dominoes it set in motion, left the series all square at two games apiece, essentially a best of three for the title.

To read Harvey Araton’s entire New York Times article on the play that may have saved the series for the Mavericks, click here.

BACK AND FORTH
Game 4 only came down to the wire because of another incredible comeback from the cardiac Mavericks.

The Mavs jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, but failed to get out ahead of Miami as Jason had hoped. The first half saw both teams battle back and forth, exchanging the lead with seemingly every possession. The first period ended in a 21-21 tie after J-Kidd found Jason Terry late in the quarter for three, to help Dallas keep pace.

In the second quarter Jason fed a red-hot DeShawn Stevenson, for another triple. No. 2 then racked up two steals within 45 seconds off the Heat’s Mario Chalmers, as the Mavs looked to regain control before the break.

Nevertheless, the Heat took a two-point advantage, 47-45, into the locker room.

Miami had doubled that lead by the end of the third and put together an early 5-0 run to start the fourth, sensing a chance to pull away.

But Dallas quickly reeled them back in and regained the lead for good on a fast break layup by Jason Terry with 5:12 to go. The Mavs pushed their lead to four with less than two minutes to go, but it was back to just two when J-Kidd fouled Wade with 30 seconds to go in regulation.

After Wade’s miss and with his Mavs clinging to a one-point lead, Jason caught the inbound, then fed Dirk, who drove right at the hoop. Nowitzki finished with a layup, which gave the Mavs the cushion they would need for the victory. After the game, Jason was asked about Dirk’s final bucket. Mike Fisher of Dallas Basketball called the exchange the quote of the night:

"Quote of the Night, from Jason Kidd, when asked, "Any thought of not going to Dirk on the last play?”

Kidd answer: "Nope."

Art Garcia of ESPN Dallas praised the Mavericks for the lockdown defense they maintained throughout the game and, most importantly, during the ever crucial fourth period.

"The combination of Jason Kidd, Marion and Stevenson limited LeBron James to a pedestrian eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. Chris Bosh scored only two points in the fourth quarter. Heat role players Mike Bibby, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers had little to no impact on the game. Dwyane Wade had 32 points, but also botched Miami’s final possession."

The defensive effort on James held the Miami star to his lowest point total in several years, as Miami Herald columnist Israel Gutierrez wrote:

"This game doesn’t define LeBron James in these playoffs. It doesn’t even become the story of his NBA Finals if it remains a one-game anomaly.

But it does stand as the most shocking result for James in this series. In these playoffs. In his playoff history.

For the first time in 90 playoffs games, James was held to single figures with eight points. It doesn’t matter than he added nine rebounds, seven assists and only shot the ball 11 times. All that matters is that the Heat got eight points from the most dominant basketball force on the planet and lost by three.

It’s not just the first time in his playoff career that LeBron has been held below 10 points. It’s the first time in 434 NBA games, regular season and playoffs included. It’s the first time overall since Jan. 5, 2007."

But Jason told reporters that LeBron’s outing wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be.

"He almost had a triple-double," he said, noting James’s 9 rebounds and 7 assists. "He has the total package. He doesn’t have to score."

J-Kidd’s defense did however frustrate James. No. 2 drew a crucial charge on Lebron in the fourth and his three steals upped his total to 37 this postseason, three ahead of James for the NBA lead. This postseason, Jason has averaged nearly two steals per game, many of which have been pivotal in helping the Mavs reach the point they have.

NEVER SAY DIE
The Mavs’ victory, complete with Jason’s defense, Dirk’s flu, Tyson Chandler’s rebounding and Jason Terry’s clutch fourth quarter play, epitomized the team concept that Dallas brings to the arena every night.

As an observer of the team throughout the season, Dallas Morning News writer Bob Sturm wasn’t the least bit surprised by the gutsy effort. Sturm noted that this year’s Mavs have played with heart and drive different from Dallas teams of the past:

"This team simply won’t die.

They showed it last night. They showed it throughout this run. And they plan on showing it the rest of the way.

What makes these characteristics so remarkable would be that this team had a reputation that was quite the opposite around the league. Over the years, they did not seem to have a steely resolve. They seemed to crumble against difficult circumstances. And they did not seem to possess the heart of a champion.

Well, toss that reputation in the trash. That was then. This is now.

This team is full of warriors. These last 2 months of playoff basketball has showed us that heart and resolve can cover some other deficiencies a roster may have."

NEXT UP
Jason and the Mavs will play their final game of the season at the American Airlines Center on Thursday, when they square off with the Heat in a crucial Game 5.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST and the game will be televised on ABC.

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