With the NBA pre-season underway, J-Kidd likes what he’s seeing from former teammate Shawn Marion. The Mavs, a predominantly young team, can learn a lot from veterans Jason and the Matrix.

Before Marion and Dirk Nowitzki’s knockout performance against the Wizards Oct. 9th, No. 2 noted to the Star Telegram that Marion will help the team with more than his veteran skills and knowledge.

“He’ll help Dirk

[Nowitzki] a lot. Watch how much things open up for Dirk when Shawn is in there.”

 J-Kidd’s clairvoyant prophecy held true, as Marion and Nowitzki paired up to score 41 points in 45 minutes, sinking 16 out of 23 shots.

Despite the duo’s volatile performance, the Mavericks have gotten off to a bit of a shaky start in the pre-season.

PRE-SEASON JITTERS
The Mavs started their pre-season Oct. 5 with a narrow 110-105 loss to the Magic. They held a 101-99 lead with less than three minutes left, but couldn’t seem to seal the victory.

J-Kidd chipped in 4 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.

The Mavericks are a team often equated with explosive offense and a subdued defense. Jason and his teammates are working hard to be just as explosive on defense.

As Kidd noted to the Dallas Morning News:

“Overall, defensively, we’re going in the right direction. Last night was pretty impressive without Josh and Shawn, to compete with a team like Orlando.”

FINDING HIS STRIDE
After shaking the pre-season jitters, No. 2 found his stride in the 123-115 win over the Wizards Friday night. J-Kidd hit 57% from beyond the arc and finished up with 15 points. He also chipped in 7 assists and 5 rebounds for good measure.

Although Jason had an outstanding game, all he could talk about was his former teammate Shawn Marion, who scored 26 points against the Wizards.

As he told the Dallas Morning News:

“We might have run two plays for him and he was 11-of-15. Getting loose balls, tip-ins, keeping balls alive – he just makes the game easy.”

J-Kidd and the Mavs had no problem defeating the Detroit Pistons this past Thursday night. No. 2 put up 5 points and 5 assists in the 113-88 blowout. He also added 4 rebounds and 2 steals. The duo of Marion and Howard were out due to injuries, but Jason doesn’t see this as a problem.

“We got to play with the guys who can suit up. In the couple years I’ve been here, there’s always been some injuries and guys have stepped in and helped us win ballgames. I think we’re kind of used to the injury thing. We just play with the guys who can go.”

ALMOST A HIGH-FIVE
No. 2 is known for his jaw-dropping amount of triple doubles, but Jason talmost grabbed the illusive “high five” against the Grizzlies Sunday night.

A high-five, which is when a player scores at least 5 points and racks up 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks, is very rare, but Jason had it within reach. In the 114-107 win, he finished up with 5 points, 5 steals, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. He was 5 blocks short of a high-five, but a high-four isn’t too shabby, either.

No. 2 joked to the Dallas News:

“I’m going to have to hit the weight room, I guess.”

RELATED STORIES:
Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki combo looks like a winner (Star-Telegram.com, Oct. 9, 2009)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1675430.html
Not quite a high-five for Kidd (Dallas Morning News, Oct. 12, 2009)
http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/not-quite-a-high-five-for-kidd.html
Magic at Mavericks BoxScore (NBA.com, Oct. 5, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20091005/ORLDAL/boxscore.html
Mavericks at Wizards BoxScore (NBA.com, Oct. 9, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20091009/DALWAS/boxscore.html
Grizzlies at Mavericks BoxScore (NBA.com, Oct. 11, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20091011/MEMDAL/boxscore.html
Pistons at Mavericks BoxScore (NBA.com, Oct. 16, 2009) http://www.nba.com/games/20091015/DETDAL/boxscore.html
Mavs step up their defensive effort (Star-Telegram, Oct. 16, 2009)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1689896.html