Giving back and helping out in the community is a part of his life that Jason Kidd has always enjoyed.

So, with the holiday season in full swing, J-Kidd has been in a charitable mood. This weekend, No. 2 held a basketball clinic for 75 Special Olympic athletes. Dallas Morning News reporter Eddie Sefko described the event:

"Tis the season for giving and Jason Kidd is doing his part this weekend for Special Olympians.

Kidd spent Sunday afternoon joining forces with the Heroes Foundation to conduct a basketball clinic for 75 Special Olympic athletes at the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center in Oak Cliff. It’s a great learning experience for the kids and a rewarding one for Kidd.

On Monday, Kidd will help entertain some of the athletes as they tour the Mavericks’ locker room at AAC. They’ll also get a chance to shoot around on the court and will get tickets to Monday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

These are the sort of charitable efforts that often go unreported. But it’s one of the things that most athletes take great pride in, and rightfully so."

That wasn’t the only charitable effort from J-Kidd this weekend, he and the Mavericks welcomed 150 soldiers from the Brooke Army Medical Center to the American Airlines Arena on Saturday for their game with the Utah Jazz.

With some true heroes in attendance, Jason and his teammates put on a show.

Dallas came out firing on all cylinders and hit 11 of their first 12 shots and 7-of-8 three pointers to jump out to an early 25-point lead. Utah tried to mount a comeback, but the Mavs held on for the victory, 103-97.

No. 2 was also charitable with the basketball and finished with nine assists, three points, four rebounds, two steals and a phenomenal rating of +15.

Coach Carlisle and the Mavs were happy to get the win in front of the troops and it improved Dallas’ record to 6-1 on Seats for Soldiers event nights.

"It’s awesome,” he said. "It’s such an appropriate gesture by the people who give up their seats and our franchise to accommodate these deserving people. Every year we’ve done it, it’s been really special.


"I think it gets the players juiced up and our fans even more excited. It’s a night to look forward to.”

A MAGICAL START
The Mavs’ twelfth consecutive win looked to be in the bag early after Dallas played incredible basketball in the first quarter.

No. 2 found the hot hand early and often as he dished out assists on three of their first five baskets. To Carlisle, the Mavs’ first quarter was a truly remarkable sight to behold:

"We moved the ball great and we got stops. It was kind of a magical 6 or 8 minutes."

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, explained further:

"The Mavericks were absolutely unconscious in the first quarter, shooting 72 percent for the period. They canned seven of their first eight 3-pointers. Scalding hot doesn’t even begin to describe them. Even when they missed seven of their next eight 3-pointers, they still qualified as dead-eyes at 50 percent from long range."

After holding the Jazz to just two points in the first six-minutes of the opening quarter, Dallas was up 29-4 with still over four minutes remaining in the period. Utah cut into the lead slightly, but while making an eight-foot jumper, Jason was fouled and extended their lead by three more to 34-19 in the final seconds of the quarter.

The Jazz fought their way back into the game in the second and pulled to within 12. J-Kidd found DeShawn Stevenson for three, however, and once again pushed the Mavs further out in front.

In the fourth, Utah went on a 19-8 run to knot the game up at 89 with four-and-a-half to go. But it was the No. 2-DeShawn Stevenson hookup that gave the Mavs a 96-92 lead that they would not relinquish.

After the game, Jason’s point guard counterpart Deron Williams had high-praise for the J-Kidd led Mavs:

"This is the best Mavs team I’ve ever seen since I’ve been in the NBA," he said. "Across the board, they have so much talent and depth. But they’re just playing a lot better defensively. This is by far the best defensive team we’ve seen from them."

NEXT UP
J-Kidd and the Mavs will be looking to extend their league-best winning streak to 13 games this evening when they welcome the Milwaukee Bucks to the American Airlines Center, where the home team is 11-3 this season.

Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CST and the game can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

RELATED STORIES