Kidd Growing Up, And Mavs On Rise
The way things are going for Jason Kidd, he may not only find his way to the NBA rookie of the year award, but he’s maintaining the Dallas Mavericks’ slim playoff hopes for the next 11 days.
“We lost a lot of close games earlier in the season,” Kidd said. “At the same time, we learned in those games, learned the hard way. Now it’s starting to pay dividends. We’re starting to win the close games and that’s what it takes to be a playoff team.”
At least they did Tuesday night, outscoring the Houston Rockets 156-147 in triple overtime to move to within two games of the Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets for the eighth Western Conference playoff spot.
Kidd and the Mavs (34-41) come to Seattle to meet the Sonics (53-22) tonight at 7 in the Tacoma Dome. Stuck in the craw of the Mavericks is the 125-98 loss delivered by the Sonics on Saturday night in Dallas, the eighth straight loss to the Seattle team.
“We lost, that’s all I have to say,” Mavs forward Jamal Mashburn said. “It was embarrassing; embarrassing for the Mavericks organization.”
But what is changing the veneer of this team, which has won just 10 less games than it won in the previous three seasons, has been Kidd. He poured in a career-high 38 points and had 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Rockets, his third triple-double in the past five games for the Mavericks.
“It always feels good to win a game like that,” said Kidd, who was suffering neck spasms prior to Saturday’s game against the Sonics. “That’s the way basketball is supposed to be played.”
It’s how he will win the NBA rookie of the year award with a late-season surge. Detroit’s Grant Hill was the early favorite, and he still appears to hold a slim lead, according to a poll by The Dallas Morning News of 24 media members. Hill garnered 11 of the votes, followed by Kidd with 10 and Milwaukee’s Glenn Robinson with three.
But in a poll of the NBA’s 27 general managers (20 voted), Kidd accrued nine votes, followed by Hill and Robinson with four apiece, and Sacramento’s Brian Grant with two.
“Jason Kidd revitalized that whole city with his enthusiasm, leadership and unselfishness,” San Antonio general manager Gregg Popovich told The Morning News. “He’s what every coach would fight for to have on his team because of his character qualities as well as his ability. Competitively, he’s like Bird, Magic and Michael. No one competes like this guy.”
His counterpart on the Sonics, Gary Payton, knows all about it. He knew him growing up in the San Francisco East Bay area. They share agents, and play together in the summer. Remember, Kidd would only be finishing his junior year at Cal if he had stayed in school.
“Whether Jay wins the award or not, he’s going to be a great player,” Payton said. “We’ll work together in the summer and he’ll keep getting better and better. He’ll improve his shooting and know the league better. That’s how we’ll all get better working together.”
But they won’t be friends once the ball goes up.
“Once it’s a game, we all just play,” Payton said.
Free throws
The jury is still out on the left ankle of Mavs guard Jim Jackson, who had a third-degree sprain Feb. 24. “I just can’t keep it from swelling when I work out,” Jackson said. “Once the swelling stops, I can play again.” … The Sonics are 0-11 against the other top-five seeded teams in the Western Conference since they defeated San Antonio on Nov. 25, and they are 4-12 against them for the season. They are 25-4 against the rest of the West since that date, and finished play against the Eastern Conference at 23-5. … Kendall Gill practiced Wednesday, but will not play until Saturday’s game in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors.