Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks got off to a blistering start on Thursday night on their way to a 111-106 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Along the way, J-Kidd poured in 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with 10 assists, two rebounds, a steal and a block; in short, a typical stat-sheet stuffing night for the future hall-of-famer.

The double-double was the point guard’s seventh of the season. Jason now averages eight points and eight assists per game.

No. 2 played phenomenal basketball to push the Mavs out to a commanding 33-15 lead by the end of the first quarter. The 15 points scored by the Rockets tied their lowest output of the season in the opening frame.

First Jason found Dirk Nowitzki for a layup in the game’s opening seconds and a minute later J-Kidd nailed a 20-foot jumper from the top of the circle to extend the Dallas lead to 4-0.

By the time No. 2 took a seat for a quick breather with just under two minutes remaining in the first, he had either scored or assisted on 14 of the Mavs’ 29 points. ESPN’s Jeff Caplan wrote of Jason’s red-hot start:

Jason Kidd must have enjoyed his day off Wednesday because he’s off to one of those running starts where his shot is falling as well as doing all that other stuff. The veteran point guard has seven points, five assists, a steal and a block, leading the way to a 33-15 lead after one quarter. It’s the Mavs’ largest lead after 12 minutes this season.

Jason re-entered the game at the five-minute mark of the second period and immediately picked up where he left off as the Mavs went for the kill.

Dallas pushed the lead to 20 when J-Kidd drove into the paint, leapt into the air and fed center Tyson Chandler, who was rushing to the hoop along the baseline, with a beautiful no-look alley-oop pass. The big man finished with an authoritative slam to extend the Dallas lead.

By half, the Mavs looked to be well on their way to a blow-out victory and led 64-47. But the Rockets wouldn’t go quietly.

After No. 2 found Chandler for another two-point layup to give Dallas a 68-49 lead, Houston came roaring back with a 28-11 run that cut the deficit to a mere two-points, 79-77.

"We missed a couple of shots that we would normally have made," Jason said. "And with a couple of turnovers sprinkled in there, they were able to cut the lead."

Dallas, however, responded in kind with its own 11-4 run in the quarter’s final four minutes and controlled the rest of the game. Jason credited reserve guard JJ Barea, who scored 12 second half points, with the late surge to preserve the victory.

"He gets to the free throw line, he knocks down his free throws, he’s able to knock down the little mid-range jump shot and puts a lot of pressure on," J-Kidd said of Barea. "For a team like Houston, they don’t have a shot-blocker and that’s perfect for us because JJ puts a lot of pressure on them."

The win was Dallas’ third straight and fourth in five games.

NEXT UP
J-Kidd and the Mavs will play two more games at the American Airlines Center to finish out the month of January.

They’ll look to stretch their winning streak to four tonight when they welcome the Atlanta Hawks tonight. Tip-off is at 7:30 CST and the game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

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