MAVS MOVE ON TO SUNS, REMINDING KIDD A BIT OF THEIR PAST

LUKA Doncic and his teammates remind Jason Kidd a little of the last Dallas Mavericks team to advance in the playoffs.

The coach now was the point guard then when the Mavericks had split the first four games of the 2011 playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers. He recalls people thinking Dallas might not even get out of that series.

Instead, the Mavericks won the next two games and never looked back. They swept the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers in the next round and ended up winning the title themselves by beating Miami in the NBA Finals.

This year, Dallas again started 2-2, then won two straight to get by the Utah Jazz with a 98-96 victory on Thursday night. The current Mavericks don’t have the experience and may not have the talent of his title team, but Kidd said they are a special group. /