‘Cool’ Kidd key for Mavs
Jason Kidd has been here before in his first season as coach of the Mavericks, down 1-0 in a third consecutive NBA playoff series.
The Bay Area native who played at Cal is looking for another bounceback from Luka Doncic and company in his first trip to the conference finals as a coach, which just happened to start in San Francisco.
Kidd is guiding the franchise that was his first home away from home nearly 30 years ago, and is this deep in the postseason for the first time since the Hall of Fame player was the point guard on the Dirk Nowitzki-led team that won the 2011 title.
“There’s a team out there that’s won a championship starting the same way, losing the first game,” Kidd said after Wednesday’s 112-87 loss to the third-seeded Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Game 2 is Friday night.
Kidd has kept the conversations on titles since replacing his coach from that 2011 title year, Rick Carlisle. In this case, he could have been referring to those Mavs, who beat the Heat in six games after losing the opener.
With a steady hand as the coach, Kidd has help the Mavs rally from a 16-18 start to finish in the top four in the West for the first time since 2011.
The fourth-seeded Mavericks started the playoffs without Doncic following Kidd’s questionable decision to keep him in a regular-season finale that had clearly become meaningless before the young superstar strained his left calf.
Kidd rejected the idea that he should have pulled Doncic, then the Mavs won their second game without their All-star against the Jazz and did it again when the first-round series moved to Salt Lake City. The Mavs eliminated the Jazz in six games, with Doncic returning for the final three.
After losing the first two games against the top-seeded Suns in Phoenix, neither of which was particularly close, the Mavs won four of the last five, capped by a 33-point Game 7 victory. It was the only victory for the road team in the series.
“Coach did a good job of getting everybody to buy in,” Dorian Finney-smith said. “He’s the only person in the locker room who’s been in this situation. He’s got a cool, calm, collected attitude, and I think we take that from him.”
Kidd has acknowledged learning lessons from taking a hard-charging approach to his second job as a head coach with the Bucks, who fired him in the middle of his fourth season after they gave up draft picks to get him from the Nets.
Mavs guard Sterling Brown, who played for Kidd with the Bucks, has suggested his current teammates are seeing a different version of Kidd. What matters most, of course, is his relationship with Doncic — which appears good so far.
“I think we’re a way better team now,” Doncic said during the season. “He’s been great for us. He communicates with the players. He’s just been great, helping not just me but everybody, just to see a better picture.”