Throughout the NBA Finals, Jason Kidd has come up with the big plays all over the court that have helped the Mavericks climb closer to their championship goal.


Jason Kidd came up with big plays for the Mavericks again in their 112-103 Game 5 win.

Often times those plays, things like the extra pass, setting up the offense, strong defensive play, didn’t show up in the stat sheet. But in Game 5, Jason’s output popped off the sheet like a dagger three-pointer.

That’s because, in fact, Jason’s biggest contribution to Thursday night’s 112-103 win, which pushed the Mavericks to within a win of the NBA championship, was a dagger three-pointer.

No. 2 poured in 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting and hit 60 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc, including a crucial triple with a minute and a half remaining in the game to put the Mavs ahead by five, 105-100. Ken Berger of CBS Sports described Jason’s crucial triple, which came off of a pass from teammate Jason Terry:

Driving to the basket from the left wing, Terry got caught in traffic and rifled a kickout pass to Kidd, who was waiting at the 3-point line with no one around. Terry was so decisive with the pass, so sure that Kidd would be there, that he didn’t even turn his head until he’d already committed to throwing it out. Kidd, the 38-year-old point guard who’d been guarding James at the other end, knocked down the shot for a 105-100 lead with 1:26 left.

"I was really looking to get to the basket, drawing a foul," Terry said. "They do a great job with help defense, and my outlet was Jason Kidd. He shoots it well from the spot he was in. The right decision. The right play to make."

No. 2 talked about the triple, his third of the game, which sent the crowd at the American Airlines Center, for the final Mavs home game of the season, into a frenzy.

"Jet made a heck of a play out, driving the ball and throws it out," Jason said. "Just the trust that he had in me, I was going to make that shot."

With a five-point lead in hand, the Mavs kept on pushing. After a 1-of-2 trip to the free throw line by Chris Bosh cut their lead to four, Terry buried another triple to put the Mavs up seven. JET and J-Kidd each added a pair of free throws in the final minute to secure the victory. After the game, Terry credited the win to Jason, the team’s calming presence off the court and their floor general on it.

"It’s all about our leader, Jason Kidd," Terry said. "The way he plays the game, the way he has always played the game rubs off."

As Calvin Watkins of ESPN Dallas wrote, that was the unanimous feeling in the locker room after the game as well, with everyone singing Jason’s praises:

There is so much love for Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd.

After the Mavericks’ 112-103 Game 5 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday night, Kidd was holding court near his stall in the locker room just talking basketball.

New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams was chatting it up with Kidd trying to get all the knowledge he can from the 38-year old point guard who is just one victory away from his first NBA title.

Across the locker room, Tyson Chandler said Kidd’s clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter was just another example of what he’s meant to this team. In a corner stall, DeShawn Stevenson said Kidd was a monster, a legend.

Bob Sturm of the Dallas Morning News wrote that Jason’s performance showed that No. 2 still has the guile to help carry this team to a title.

"Meanwhile, Jason Kidd played his 100th game of the season last night, and had gone since May 23rd since he had scored in double digits. His Game 4 was 0 points, 3 assists, and 4 turnovers and when games like that happen and your point guard is 38 years old, your natural reaction is to simply wonder if he has hit the wall. Especially given his defensive responsibility to chase Wade and James around.

In the pregame, many felt that Kidd would have to have 2 more big efforts in his season for the Mavericks to complete their mission. Well, his Game 5 was a thing of beauty, as he buried a 3-pointer that brought the roof down with 1:26 left to go to make the score 105-100. With time ticking down and clinging to a 2-point lead, he took dead aim and did what you thought he would do at the most important juncture. He delivered with 13 points, 6 assists, and just 3 turnovers, and showed his tank is not empty."

The Mavericks are now 7-1 during games this postseason in which Jason scores in double digits.

A FAST START
No. 2’s scoring served to bookend Game 5, as not only did he put one of the final daggers in the Heat, he also went about setting the offensive tone early on.

The Mavs missed their first three scoring attempts of the game as the Heat took a 2-0 lead. But on Miami’s third offensive trip, J-Kidd picked off a bad pass from Mike Bibby and took it to the other hoop for a layup.

Shortly thereafter, No. 2 added his first three-pointer of the game, breaking a 4-4 tie to put Dallas in front 7-4.

He ended up with five of the first seven points for his team and told Mavs Moneyball that the early jolt gave him some self-assurance.

"I think the layup definitely helped. I haven’t had a lay up in a while. Getting the ball to the basket and getting that lay up gave me a little confidence. My job isn’t to score. My job is to get my teammates in a position to be successful.

But my teammates get on me sometimes about shooting the ball and looking to score a little bit to help them. So tonight was one of those games where I had some good looks, and they went in."

Along with his 13 points, Jason did an outstanding job of both finding teammates in position to score and playing tough defense. He finished with six assists, three steals, a block and two rebounds.

With No. 2 in command of the offense, the Mavs shot a blistering 56 percent from the field and an even more sensational 13-of-19 (68 percent), from beyond the arc. J-Kidd wasn’t surprised by the supreme effort put forth by his teammates when it mattered most:

"We’ve got a lot of guys that have been terrific finishers for us," he said. "A lot of times our game becomes very balanced…. Some nights it’s just we need seven guys with four points or more. You’re never quite sure how the total is going to get to where it gets. That’s kind of defined us as a team.

"There’s no set formula, other than we need each other. And we need to play a certain way, and we need to play with a certain collective intelligence and will. And the defense has got to be tight. So we were able to do a lot of those things tonight, and I think that’s why we won."

It was clear from the outset that Game 5 would be, unlike the bulk of the series up to that point, an offensive battle. For the first time all series both Dallas and Miami scored at least 30 points in a single quarter.

Jason helped to push the Mavs’ first quarter lead as high as seven when he dished to Brian Cardinal for a trey. But the Heat battled back to take a one-point lead, 31-30 at the end of the quarter, after Mario Chalmers turned a Dallas turnover into yet another buzzer-beating half court heave.

"It always seems somewhere at the end of the quarter or half or one of the quarters they make a half court three. So to get that out of the way in the first was maybe a good sign," Jason joked. "We turned the ball over, and they make a three and they take the lead."

The Dallas defense buckled down in the second, holding Miami to just 24 points. Meanwhile, the Mavs maintained their own incredible offensive efficiency and Jason capped Dallas’ 30-point second quarter by finding both Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki for short jumpers in the quarter’s final moments. Those shots sent the Mavs into the locker room leading 60-57.

The Mavs preserved their lead in the third and at the four-minute mark Jason hit his second triple of the night, starting a 7-2 run. He then dished for back-to-back buckets from Tyson Chandler and Jason Terry to put the Mavs advantage at five points, 84-79, heading into the final frame.

KEEPING CALM
For the first time in the series, Dallas entered the fourth quarter with a lead, but it wouldn’t last.

The Heat came roaring back and took a 99-95 lead with just over four minutes remaining, forcing Dallas coach Rick Carlisle to call a timeout. But according to Jason, there was no panic amongst he and his teammates:

"The game is about runs and rhythm," he said, "and they made a run on us where they were getting lay ups. We had to find a way to stop. On the other end, you have to continue to keep playing when they do score. You have to find a way to score on the other end. We did and guys stepped up and made some big plays down the stretch."


J-Kidd and Dirk helped to keep the Mavericks together as they fought off a Miami rally in Game 5.

Jason said that in the Dallas huddle during the timeout the mood was one of determination. The Mavs knew what they needed to do and set out to execute their game plan.

"

[We said] just to stay together and keep fighting," J-Kidd said. "Defensively we had to get a stop. Make or miss on the offensive end, we got to find a way to break their rhythm, because they were running the pick and rolls and they were slipping out getting lay up after lay up. Normally when you do that to a team, you tend to drop your head and compound it by not scoring on the other end. Guys just kept playing, finding a way."

The Mavs found a way over the final four minutes and went on a 17-4 run to clinch the victory. Jason said a lot of credit for Dallas’ success this series has to go to his coach Rick Carlisle for not only keeping the team focused, but putting them in the right situations to be successful.

"At this stage when you look at all the champions, their coaches have always pushed the right buttons and they’ve put their players in a position to win," No. 2 told ESPN Dallas. "Hopefully, he keeps pushing the right buttons."

NEXT UP
Despite being just one win away from his first NBA title, Jason’s sole focus is on Game 6. The final game (or two) of the Finals will take place in Miami’s American Airlines Arena, where the Mavs will look to close out the series on Sunday night.

"We’re happy with our performance [in Game 5], but there’s always room to get better," J-Kidd said, "Defensively, in that fourth quarter we gave up too many layups, and they took the lead. But the big thing is, we know that it’s hard to win on the road, and we have to find a way to win on the road come Sunday."

Game 6 tips off at 7 p.m. CST and can be seen on ABC.

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