Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks 111 at Atlanta Hawks 103
Momentum is a funny thing.
Riding a five-game winning streak, the Dallas Mavericks entered Philips Arena out to avenge an 80-75 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 5. Accompanying the Mavs on the road was the momentum from Wednesday night's 101-96 home win over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
In a game of runs, where momentum was everything, the Mavericks used a late change in the tide to claim a 111-103 overtime win Friday night. Thanks to Jason Kidd's first triple-double of the season and veteran headiness, the Mavericks overcame a late double-digit deficit and extended the NBA's longest current winning streak to six.
(Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)
"The performance that (Kidd) had was an all-time great performance, especially for someone who's 36 years old," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "I've never seen a guy have this kind of impact on a game. You don't get winning streaks without special performances, like the one that Jason (Kidd had tonight). This was one for the ages."
For the second straight game the Mavericks were without swingman Caron Butler, after the former All-Star suffered a bad reaction to medication before the matchup with L.A. Once again newcomer DeShawn Stevenson sled into the starting lineup, playing next to Kidd, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Brendan Haywood.
"Right now, we have all three guys from the (Feb. 13 trade) playing key roles. Butler's missed a couple of games, so now Stevenson's a starter," the coach said.
The first quarter was very kind to the Mavericks, filled with above-the-rim finishes from Marion off of Kidd's feeds. With Nowitzki's lights-out shooting, the Mavericks overcame early turnovers with a 16-0 run. The Dallas defense made it possible for the team to run, holding the Hawks without a made field goal for the final 6:10 of the quarter. The result was a 29-19 Dallas lead after one. Marion and Nowitzki combined to score 20 of the Mavericks' 29 first quarter points.
Former Hawk Jason Terry kept the good times rolling for the Mavericks early in the second stanza, as Atlanta continued without a made basket for nearly four minutes of game time in the period. But once the Hawks began to connect from behind the 3-point arch, Atlanta was right back in the game. As Joe Johnson caught fire, the Hawks crept closer. Johnson's transition finger roll with 2:54 remaining in the half put the Hawks ahead 44-43. After a stretch of 16 straight misses, Atlanta made 10 consecutive shots. But Kidd's play at both ends, including a steal to pass Scottie Pippen for fifth on the all-time list, helped the Mavs tie the game at 50-all heading into the halftime break.
The Mavericks found themselves knotted at the half despite out-shooting the Hawks 61 percent to 48 percent through the first 24 minutes of play. Atlanta's 5-of-11 from behind the arch and Johnson's 17 first half points erased Dallas' 14-point advantage. Nowitzki posted 16 points through the first two quarters.
The third quarter was a seesaw affair for the first six minutes. But Josh Smith's do-it-all play helped the Hawks open up a double-digit lead. The Mavericks attempted to rallied behind Nowitzki, but the Dallas squad struggled through a stretch of nine straight misses. With the Hawks outscoring Dallas 26-15 in the third, the Mavericks found themselves down 76-65 entering the fourth.Kidd attempted to rally his troops in the final period with transition offense. Defensively, the Mavericks took Johnson out of the game with a scrambling zone.
"We threw the zone defense out there to throw the Hawks off a little bit," Terry said. "If you don't practice repetition against the zone, it will cause problems for you, and I think that's what happened to the Hawks tonight. At the same time, the Hawks just didn't hit the shots they were hitting earlier in the game, so it took them out of rhythm a little bit."
Switching to a three-guard lineup of Kidd, Terry and J.J. Barea, the Mavericks sped up the tempo on the offensive end. En route to his 104th (third-most in NBA history) career triple-double, Kidd's play at both ends translated to an 18-3 run to pull the Mavs ahead 92-91 with 2:58 remaining. The future Hall-of-Famer then found himself in a shootout with Hawks point guard Mike Bibby. But not even a brief scrum with Hawks coach Mike Woodson was able to cool Kidd down, after the veteran drew a technical foul on the head play-caller when the two colliding outside of the coaching box.
"I saw him on the court and we needed to get a point somehow," Kidd said of the incident. "He's in a suit, and so I had to make the officials make something happen there...There is a coaching box and some of the coaches do stretch that box."
"I don't know if there's ever been a smarter player in this league than Jason Kidd. There may be a few equals out there -- Magic Johnson, (Larry) Bird, a few others, (Michael) Jordan," Carlisle said of his point guard's awareness.
Kidd gave the Mavs a 99-97 edge with 56.4 ticks left on his third consecutive three. Yet after the Hawks tied the game, both Nowitzki and Kidd missed on game-winning fadeaway jumpers in the final possession of regulation. The Mavericks outscored the Hawks 34-23 in the fourth to send the game into overtime.
"Jason Kidd's leadership and fourth quarter play was the difference tonight," Haywood said.
The momentum was clearly with the Mavericks in the extra period, and it wasn't going anywhere. Already up four, Nowitzki iced the game with 1:06 left on the clock, as the 7-footer's three swished in off Kidd's 17th assist of the night. Late scores from Terry and Haywood put the finishing touches on the win.
"We were down 11 points late in the game, and to come back and get this win is phenomenal. We really needed this win to boost our confidence as we go through the second part of this season," Terry said.
Flying under the radar was Nowitzki's 37 points to lead the way on 15-of-26 shooting. That's because Kidd did everything imaginable. Tallying up 19 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds, No. 2's fingerprints were all over the game.
"Jason Kidd is one of the smartest players I've ever seen play. We have a true point guard in him, and his stat line tonight speaks to that. More than that, he just led us tonight, and led us to a big victory," Terry said of his backcourt mate.
Off the bench, Terry posted 17 points. Marion added 14 points, while Haywood recorded his third double-double as a Maverick with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
"I feel like my job is just to be a force inside and a presence on the defensive end," Haywood said.
Johnson led five Hawks in double figures with his 27-point night.
With the late charge, the Mavericks finished the night connecting on 52 percent from the field. The Dallas defense held Atlanta to just 40 percent shooting at the other end. Much of the credit goes to Dallas' 50-41 advantage in rebounding and 29-19 edge in fast break points.
The Mavericks snatched the win from the Hawks' grasp despite 13 turnovers, compared to Atlanta's seven giveaways.
Now, the Mavs return home and play host to the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night. The Mavericks will look to run their win streak to seven, with the game airing nationally on ESPN and locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA HD at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS. The season series is tied 1-1.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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