Kidd closing in on milestone With five assists, Mav will pass Jackson for No. 2 on all-time list
November 27th, 2009 Posted in NBA basketball newsJason Kidd didnt want to hear anything about personal glory after the Mavericks wretched loss to Golden State on Tuesday.
He was quick with his words and in a hurry to get out of the locker room, unimpressed with anything that happened on the court, including the 13 assists he had that put him within five of reaching No. 2 on the all-time NBA list.
That just means Ive been around a long time, he said.
And thrown a lot of passes to guys who can make shots. He stepped into Toyota Center on Wednesday night needing just five assists to surpass Mark Jacksons 10,334. After that, its Kidd and John Stockton, whose 15,806 helpers are way out of range.
Its another landmark in Kidds 16-year career. More recently, hes been outstanding over the last four games, averaging nearly 13 assists and nine rebounds.
Hes been outstanding for a long, long time, assistant coach Dwane Casey said. He does so many things for us that Id hate to think where wed be without him. The guy still sees the court and runs a team as well as anybody.
More than that, its a good sign that Kidd, 36, takes no solace in his numbers without a win to go along. In fact, it speaks highly of the Mavericks that they seem to hate the losses a lot worse than they enjoy the victories.
Its really hard to win in this league, coach Rick Carlisle said. If you dont have a really strong attention to detail and the right disposition, you get beat. Its as simple as that.
In spite of the Tuesday fiasco, the Mavericks have been focused far more often than not. Their road record, before Wednesday, was the same as their home record, 5-2. That suggests a strong will to handle tough situations away from home and a fragile mindset that allows them to nod off and lose concentration at home.
We obviously did a great job finishing games to get those 10 wins, and tonight we just didnt have it down the stretch, Dirk Nowitzki said of the loss to Golden State. Its really our fault. If you cant put teams away earlier, especially at home, that comes back to haunt you once in a while and this is one time that happened.
In fairness, the Mavericks are down three starters, but when they lose to a team with only six players, there is no room for manpower excuses.
Dampiers loss: The Warriors were the first ones to admit after Tuesdays game that not having Erick Dampier as the goal-keeper to the Mavericks defense was a factor in the 22-5 run they made to finish the game.
Monte Ellis in particular said the Mavericks werent the same team without Dampier.
They dont have any shot-blockers so our game plan was to really attack the basket, Ellis said. And when they went to the zone, we were still able to attack the basket.
There still is no firm timetable for Dampier to return, although the hope is that it will come sometime soon after this road trip.
The Mavericks will enjoy a team Thanksgiving dinner today in Indianapolis, but take the day off from practicing since its the middle of four games in five nights … As is his custom, Josh Howard arrived at the Toyota Center more than an hour before the first bus with other players arriving with the rest of the Mavericks . Athletic trainer Casey Smith puts Howard through a series of agility drills and sprints to strengthen his left ankle. Howard is making progress, but there remains no firm date for a return.
