When the Mavericks needed a boost on Thursday, facing a 2-0 hole in the NBA Finals, coach Rick Carlisle handed over the reigns and put his faith in Jason Kidd.


Jason’s dissection of the Miami defense keyed Dallas’ come-from-behind victory in Game 2 on Thursday.

That faith was rewarded with a come from behind win, knotting the NBA championship series at a game apiece. Calling plays from the floor, No. 2 helped the Mavs rally from a 15-point deficit in Game 2. Jason’s ability to recognize the game on the fly and adjust accordingly is an incredible asset for the Mavs. It’s also one they may draw on again when Game 3 tips tonight in Dallas.

"When you have a guy like Jason Kidd on the floor controlling the tempo, making the right decisions, it makes it easier," Tyson Chandler said. "It’s a little tougher if you have a younger guard out there because you kind of open it up for him and you don’t know what could happen. When you have a guy like him, he’s making the right decision every time."

Chandler told the Dallas Morning News that the "flow" game allows Dallas to find favorable matchups and creates better spacing for their offense. According to Jason though, the only reason that style succeeds is because the Mavs play so well together:

"We understand how to play off of one another,” J-Kidd said. "What happened in those 7 minutes, we started to play like we did when we were playing the Lakers, and also Oklahoma City, where we weren’t calling plays, and we were just playing."

The freelancing style was most successful on a few screens late in the game, which opened things up for Dirk Nowitzki to score the final nine points of the game for Dallas. Chandler said those plays were all set up by J-Kidd.

"That was just something on the fly," Chandler said. "Jason Kidd was running down the court, and he gave me a signal and Dirk was already high, so we just tried it, and then once we saw it gave us a good look we went back to it a couple times."

Through the first two games, the Mavericks have felt the pressure of the Miami defense in halfcourt sets. The ability to closeout on shots by the Heat players, Jason says, is unmatched in the league. But he believes he’s found a counter-punch. At least for the time being.

"It’s understanding how to play," he told Fox Sports. "We’re just trying to figure out who’s going to get the best look, move the ball, be unselfish and make a play for one of your teammates. In the last seven minutes, we could have just started shooting threes and found ourselves down by 30 if we don’t make any."

The Mavs’ resolve has been an underlying storyline throughout the playoffs. After losing Game 4 of the first round by surrendering their own 21-point lead to the Trail Blazers, Dallas turned the tables and became kings of the comeback themselves.

They closed their series in Portland by coming back from double digits down, then repeated the feat in the West semifinals against the Lakers and the West finals against Oklahoma City. In surviving a 15-point deficit in Game 2, the Mavs have now come back from at least 10 down in each series this postseason.

"I don’t know if confidence is the right word," Kidd told ESPN Dallas. "We just don’t break. We just keep playing. We always just try to take it from timeout to timeout, if we can get it to 10 and then five.

"

[In Game 2] nobody hung their head," he added. "Everybody was still engaged. That’s where it all starts. If you lose somebody, if you feel it’s over, it’s not going to happen. Everybody stayed focused and we found a way."

But Jason knows the tables can turn on the Mavs just as quickly as they did on the Heat in Game 3. Dallas will have to rely on its tenacity to survive each Miami punch for the rest of the series.

"We understand (the Heat) feel they gave one away, and they’re going to be ready to come and take this one."

CHAMPIONSHIP ON BUST?
When Jason inevitably checks into the Hall-of-Fame after his career is over, his bust in Springfield, Massachusetts will be filled with overwhelming statistics that place him among the greatest point guards that have ever lived.

But some believe Jason’s plaque will be incomplete if he ends his career without an NBA title. After their thrilling comeback win in Game 2, the Mavericks need just three more victories this season to accomplish that.


J-Kidd is focused on the Mavs’ championship quest, but he doesn’t think it will define his career.

A championship this season would mean the world to J-Kidd, it is, after all, exactly what he’s playing for. But don’t count No. 2 among those who think his legacy will be missing a piece if the Mavs don’t win a title.

"I think the championship is a great honor,” he says. I think sometimes it’s taken out of context as an individual accomplishment, instead of as a team. It is a team. A team goes through the journey from October and to be fortunate enough to still be playing in June, that’s a great accomplishment.

So, I think sometimes we kind of take it out of context. It would be a great accomplishment as a team to win a championship. As an individual, I’m 38 years old, I’ve done everything I can. I’ve enjoyed the game of basketball, so if I don’t win a championship, it’s not the end of the world."

It’s the things that J-Kidd has experienced because of basketball, not the the things he has experienced in basketball that No. 2 values the most:

"Basketball has taken me around the world three times," he told ESPN’s Hannah Storm. "I have met wonderful people. I’ve been different places. I’ve won two gold medals. So even if I didn’t win a championship, my career would be complete."

Jason also said before the Finals began that he can sense how much Dirk Nowitzki wants a ring and one of his main goals since arriving in Dallas has been to help deliver that for Dirk.

"It’s a great challenge. I don’t think it’s pressure," Jason said. "We both want a championship."

Nowitzki’s run through this postseason has exemplified that desire for a crowning achievement, as J-Kidd tells it.

"He’s playing on Mars. He’s trying to get everybody else to come from earth and meet him halfway," No. 2 told Mavs Fastbreak. "He’s a special player…. I haven’t played with anybody as special as him.

"I want this more for Dirk than for me, All the work Dirk’s put in, all the time. Man he deserves it more than anybody on this team. Plus, if he gets it, that means I get one too, right?"

Whether Jason and Dirk get that ring this year or not, No. 2 says he will be back in Dallas next year leading the Mavs. He told ESPN New York that even if the Mavericks do win the title, he can’t see himself taking the chance to bow out just yet.

"I can’t pull a John Elway," he said. "If we can win it, I would love to defend it."

Jason said he doesn’t yet feel like he’s given back to the game enough of what it has given him and there are still lessons left worth learning and teaching.

"I’ve come to grips that at some point I’ll come off the bench or try to help some younger point guard understand what it takes to be consistent. It’s all up to my body," he said. "I still have a lot to give back to the game and hopefully a younger point guard I can help develop and share my notes with him and make him a better player."

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle remains in awe of the way Jason has sustained himself over the course of his career.

"The guy has great love and respect for the game and has taken phenomenally good care of himself," Carlisle said. "In terms of all-time great players, he’s got a motor that has been running at a high level for so long. … He’s one of the all-time unique guys that’s ever played."

NEXT UP
The Mavericks will need Jason to be at his unique freelancing best as the NBA Finals shift to Dallas for Game 3 tonight at the American Airlines Center.

"We have to protect home. They have the same mindset that we did going to Miami, try to find a way to get a win on the road. We have to protect home, understanding that we did come back in Game 2, but that’s over with. We have to expect that they’re going to come back with their best shot and be prepared for that."

No. 2 knows it would be easy for the Mavericks to get ahead of themselves and forecast how this series could play out over the next 3-5 games, but he says that can’t be their concern.

"We’re only taking one game at a time," J-Kidd said. "We’re not even thinking about Game 4 or 5, we’ve just got to focus on Game 3 and give our best effort (Sunday)."

Game 3 of the NBA Finals tips at 7 p.m. CST and can be seen on ABC.

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