Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks struggled to integrate newcomers Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler in a 99-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
But No. 2 sees the team as a work in progress with a lot of good things to come, as he told the Dallas Morning News:
"It’s going to work. We didn’t have a chance to get these guys any practice time, but you could see things out there. The future is going to be very, very positive."
J-Kidd came out ready to play, nailing a shot from downtown within the first two minutes of the game. He put up 12 points, nine from behind the arc, grabbed eight boards, dished out five assists and snagged a steal in the loss.
No. 2 told the Dallas Morning News that slow defense and sparse shooting late in the game were the reasons behind the loss.
"We just didn’t play any defense in that second quarter, and then we came out of halftime and scored 11," Kidd said. "We started pressing and tried to do it individually to stop the bleeding, and it just didn’t work out. We were settling for jump shots in the third."
NEXT UP
J-Kidd hopes to get more acquainted with his new teammates tonight at 8 against the Phoenix Suns on KTXA.
RELATED STORIES
Revamped Mavs will be a work in progress (Dallas Morning News, Feb. 17, 2010)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/021710dnsposefko.4053ac7.html
New-look Mavericks no match for rolling Thunder, 99-86 (Dallas Morning News, Feb. 17, 2010)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/021710dnspomavslede.12556e58e.html
Mavericks at Thunder Boxscore (NBA.com, Feb. 17, 2010)
http://www.nba.com/games/20100216/DALOKC/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0020900786