After getting off to an ideal start, Jason and the Mavs stumbled at the end of their latest road trip, losing their last two games to end with a record of 2-2.
The Lakers got all they could handle Sunday in a preview of a possible first round match up, pushing past the Mavs for a 107-100 victory. Giving its fans something to cheer about, Dallas fought back from an early deficit to take a late 95-86 lead. Unfortunately, they were unable to finish the Lakers off.
J-Kidd led the Mavs on a 21-2 blitz, only to have Kobe and the Lakers answer with a 12-0 run of their own. Down the stretch, the Mavs were unable to match the offensive firepower of the Lakers as they were outscored 18-5 in the final seven minutes.
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| Jason picked up his 102nd triple-double against Golden State (Getty Images). |
Jason finished with another all-around effort of 9 points, 9 assists, 7 boards and 2 steals. He talked about how Kobe hurt the Mavs at the end of the game with ESPN.com:
“Kobe picked his spots when they had to have a basket.”
MR. TRIPLE DOUBLE
Mr. Triple Double struck again as Jason had his 2nd of the season in a tough 119-110 loss to his hometown Golden State Warriors.
Jason got the Mavs going early, as he pushed the pace to give the Mavs an early 2-point lead. The Mavs Blog described Jason and the Mavs start best:
“The Mavericks rolled up 31 points in the first quarter and have a two-point lead. This is the 19th time this season they’ve had a 30-plus first quarter. By the way, Jason Kidd didn’t have a triple-double in the first quarter, it just seemed that way. He’s got 8 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.”
J-Kidd continued his strong play throughout the game, as he finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. The Mavs lost the pervious game that No. 2 had a triple-double in this year also as they fell to the Lakers in October 106-99. Jason has the third most triple doubles in league history with 102, which is behind only Oscar Robinson (181 triple doubles) and Magic Johnson (138 triple doubles).
Even with Jason having a stellar game, the Mavs were unable to keep up with the Warriors pace. The Mavs cut the Warriors lead to 3 in the third, but the Warriors quickly went on a 9-0 run that put the game firmly in their control.
REMEMBERING THE MADNESS
In honor of March Madness, SF Gate ran an article listing the best performances from Bay Area teams and Jason’s magical run made the list.
SF Gate described J.Kidd’s and his Cal team’s run best:
“Jason Kidd and his wondrous playmaking skills burst onto the national scene in 1993. Kidd, Lamond Murray and recently elevated coach Todd Bozeman sparked the Bears to a riveting 82-77 upset of two-time defending champion Duke, landing Kidd on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But the magic faded in the Sweet 16, where Cal lost to Kansas, and the Bears absorbed a shocking opening-round loss the next March against Wisconsin-Green Bay.”
NEXT UP
The Mavs return to the friendly confines of American Airlines Center Tuesday night to face the Detroit Pistons at 7:30 pm CST.
RELATED STORIES
Mavericks 100, Lakers 107 (ESPN.com, Mar. 15th, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290315013
Mavericks 110, Warriors 119 (ESPN.com, Mar. 13th, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290313009
Lakers hold off Mavericks late to win possible playoff preview (ESPN.com, Mar. 15th, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=290315013
Not Necessarily good news (Mavs Blog, Mar. 13th, 2009)
http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/not-necessarily-good-news.html
NCAA Memories (SF Gate, Mar. 15th, 2009)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/15/SPOM16EE2P.DTL