Kidd has energized Dallas Mavericks, fans
04:02 AM CST on Tuesday, February 26, 2008
In the first quarter, the Chicago Bulls looked like they have all year, and the Dallas Mavericks looked like they haven't.
The 15-point lead Dallas built in the first 12 minutes was needed because life with Jason Kidd, though it is going to be wildly entertaining and eventually more successful, will not be without a few bumps along the way.
American Airlines Center is truly where amazing happens. Some of the stuff is amazingly good. Some not so much.
The Mavericks have to be happy they have built a three-game win streak following their opening loss with Kidd on board in New Orleans.
Hey, I understand that the 102-94 victims Monday were just the 22-34 Bulls. Before that, it was the 11-43 Minnesota Timberwolves and the 14-42 Memphis Grizzlies. This mini-streak has come at the expense of three of the bottom-10 teams in the NBA.
So while I am not canceling any vacation plans for early June, I'm not making any, either. I don't know how far the Mavericks are going this spring with Kidd. In the overstuffed West, it may not be far.
But it will be farther than they would have gone as previously constructed, and at least there is excitement in the building once again.
I have been to American Airlines Center when the Mavs have hosted some of the weaker Eastern Conference teams, and beyond all the contrived pieces of the show, the energy is low.
Not the case Monday against the Bulls.
Kidd, introduced last at the request of Dirk Nowitzki, who has inherited that spot for years, received the loudest cheer. Then he went out and showed just how much of a difference his presence has meant.
His stats in the first quarter, in which Dallas built a 29-14 lead, were not otherworldly – three points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals. But the team seemed to play at a quicker pace.
"Infectious," Jason Terry called it. "Everyone is infected with this passing disease."
Sometimes they did great things. Sometimes they tried to make plays that they couldn't. Kidd himself frequently broke down the defense only to discover he had nowhere to go with the ball. His final line of 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists also included six turnovers.
"I don't think we're going to win many games with 21 turnovers," coach Avery Johnson said. "We're still in the lab with this team."
Johnson is caught in the dilemma of understanding that it's going to take time and knowing also that in the ultracompetitive West, the Mavericks have no time to endure growing pains.
"We're still a relatively new team," Johnson said. "At some point, we're trying to become a good team. We'll give them a short time and see where we are. We don't have 60 games."
He believes that day will come and that the critics of the trade will become supporters.
"At the end of the day, I think everyone's going to be unified," Johnson said.
He just hopes they're unified loving the deal and not hating it. Life is about to get much tougher.
The Mavericks' next five games include road tests against the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz and a home game against the Houston Rockers, winners of 12 straight.
Right now, the Mavericks aren't playing better than they were before the trade. But in each game you see glimpses of what might be.
Dallas won with big shots from the 3-point line Monday. The Mavericks were 9-for-14, and Dirk Nowitzki, who had a game-high 29 points, hit all three of his 3s. The distribution of the ball by Kidd and Terry, who had six assists, had a lot to do with the team's accuracy.
"We weren't a very good passing team before," Johnson said. "Now we're trying to become a good passing team. Give us 10 games, and see where we are."
Give the Mavericks any more time than that to grow together and learn, and they might just be out of time.
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Kidd has energized Dallas Mavericks, fans
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