Jason Kidd's vision on the court is second to none in the NBA.
His peers rave about it and he regularly leaves them shaking their heads.
Generally J-Kidd uses that vision most on the offensive end, where he is the NBA's second all-time assist man. He did plenty of that again Tuesday night, dishing out seven dimes to zero turnovers as the Mavs defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 112-105.
But No. 2's superior vision was also responsible for a huge play against LA, one that completely turned the tables in the game.
The Mavericks were already in the process of stealing the momentum. They had eviscerated a 15-point Clippers lead, finally pulling ahead as the third quarter ran down. The crowd was into the game and the Mavs were feeding off the energy. But one play by J-Kidd buried LA and its culmination nearly blew the roof off the American Airlines Center.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas described the play:
Play of the game: Jason Kidd snuck up behind Griffin to steal a lazy post-entry pass and bolted for the other basket, beginning a beautiful fast break. Kidd pushed the ball up the floor and delivered a pinpoint, underhand pass to Shawn Marion in the middle of the paint. Marion finished with a ferocious tomahawk dunk, stretching the Mavs lead to five in the final minute of the third quarter and sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy.
To watch the game-changing play of the night, click here .
The steal by No. 2 was one of a season-high 22 for the Mavs and Dallas converted those 22 into another season-high 34 points off turnovers in the win.
Jason applies pressure to Clippers' rookie Blake Griffin in Dallas' 112-105 win.
It was one of two steals on the night for J-Kidd, who read the passer's eyes to pick off the pass, more like a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys than the point guard of the Mavericks. But it wasn't that unusual either. For the season, Jason ranks ninth in the league in steals per game at 1.73 per Mavs contest.
Jason's steals are a big part of the game for the Mavericks, as they generally lead to fast break points. The steal and dish to Marion was one of seven assists from No. 2, a game-high in the victory.
The Mavs fell behind early, but once Jason started dishing, they began to cut into the Clippers' lead. No. 2 got his first feed to Shawn Marion, which cut the Mavs' early deficit to 21-12 midway through the first. By the end of the opening quarter, the Mavs had managed to keep pace with a hot-shooting Clippers team to trail by just eight points, 33-25.
During the second, the Clippers continued to make just about everything from the field. They shot nearly 68 percent during the first half, yet still only went into the locker room with an eight-point lead, 62-54.
Jason got into a groove in the third quarter and his assists helped to bring the Mavs back. His second assist went to Tyson Chandler, who finished with the finger roll to pull Dallas within nine. Three minutes later, No. 2 found DeShawn Stevenson on the wing, where he nailed a three to close the Mavs within one, 72-71.
After a Baron Davis three made it a two-possession game again, J-Kidd found Jason Terry for a jumper to cut the deficit back down to two. That sparked a 9-1 Mavs run as they took the lead for good, Jason's steal and dish to Marion providing the exclamation point.
In the fourth, the Mavs pulled away and bookended the quarter with JET threes, both off assists from J-Kidd. Terry finished with a team-high 28 points including 14 in the fourth as Dallas lit up the scoreboard and pulled out a seven-point victory. The win improved the Mavs' record to an phenomenal 17-2 when they score at least 100 points.
The Mavs agreed that one of the biggest factors in the win may have been keeping Clippers phenom Blake Griffin in relative check throughout the night, especially in the second half.
Before Tuesday's game, No. 2 had high praise for the power forward:
"He has that Karl Malone-type game where he's physical," Mavs guard Jason Kidd said. "I don't know if Karl played above the rim like that when he was his age, but he's a guy who comes to play every night and as a rookie you don't find that that much in this league and he's doing it.
"He definitely puts up some highlights. He does some things that are very special -- offensive rebounding, being able to pass to his teammates. He has a good grasp of the game to be young. The future is very bright for himself and his team."
J-Kidd and the Mavs will look to continue their now two-game winning streak as they welcome the Houston Rockets to big D tonight.
In their last meeting, also in Dallas on November 29, J-Kidd dished out 11 assists in a 101-91 Mavs win.
Thursday's tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST and the game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
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