HOUSTON — Jason Kidd answered his cell phone and, between coughs, confirmed that he indeed had become the Mavericks’ latest COVID-19 victim.
And the NBA’s 13th head coach to catch the virus.
“I think we all think it’s just a matter of time,” he said.
That’s how the Mavericks’ Friday began. The day worsened with the expected news that Luka Doncic would not play against the Rockets. But, would you believe it? By night’s end, the Mavericks had increased their season-best winning streak to five games.
And they did it in dominant fashion, with a 130-106 pummeling of Houston in Toyota Center despite the absence of not only Kidd and Doncic but Kristaps Porzingis. With 34 assists, 54% shooting and six players contributing between 10 and 19 points, Dallas was the epitome of team basketball.
Adversity? What adversity? If anything, the Mavericks (21-18) from all appearances have been galvanized by it.
“Our team has caught the worst of it, more so than a lot of teams in the league,” Tim Hardway Jr. said. “But Coach Kidd always says next man up.”
Hardaway led Dallas with 19 points off the bench, followed by Josh Green with a career-high 17 and Reggie Bullock, Jalen Brunson and Dwight Powell with 15 apiece.
The Mavericks’ acting head coach on Friday was Sean Sweeney, the defensive coordinator whose schemes and principles, which he says largely derive from Kidd, had helped Dallas hold its previous five opponents under 97 points.
Had Sweeney, who previously coached with Kidd in Milwaukee and Brooklyn and most recently was a Detroit assistant, ever found himself in a situation like this?
“I have not, no,” he said. “I might have coached the most games in Summer League history, but not in the [regular-season Big Chair.”
Afterward, Mavericks players gathered around Sweeney in the middle of the locker room and drenched him with water.
“I can neither confirm nor deny whether that happened,” he said. “But I’m a lot colder than I was 10 minutes ago.”
Dallas scored a season-high 80 first-half points, its highest first-half total since it scored 85 against the Rockets on July 31, 2020 in the Orlando bubble.
Before the game, Rockets coach and former Dallas assistant Stephen Silas was in the middle of briefing reporters when Doncic opened the door, poked his head in and said “Hi, Silas!”
Doncic was listed as doubtful. Silas joked that he should have asked Doncic whether he was playing before he ducked out.
As entertaining as this game’s been, at least from Dallas’ standpoint, the part I’ve most noticed is how into the game the Mavs’ bench has been, especially Bullock.
Turns out, it mattered not that Doncic missed his 15th game of the season. Although Dallas’ streak of holding opponents under 100 points was broken, but much of that could be contributed to the one-sided nature of the score.
Silas certainly notices a difference in Dallas’ defense, including from many of the players he coached as an assistant under Rick Carlisle.
“They’re making people miss,” he said. “They’re putting a lot of pressure on the ball. They’re in the right spots. They’re really trying hard on the defensive end.
“They’re always good offensively and now coming together defensively. But yeah, they’re holding teams under 100, which is crazy in today’s NBA.”
