Full-Court Press

J-Kidd with 13 dimes

Jason Kidd has 13 assists near the end of the third quarter, and it's obvious that his crisp passing is leading to some easy offensive opportunities for the Mavs. However, another evident part of his game showed. He tried to step up and take a charge, but his obvious lack of lateral quickness prevented him from getting to the spot quick enough, and he picked up his first foul.

-Scooter Hendon

Catching up with...the Minnesota Timberwolves

The Mavs travel to Minnesota to wrap up a four-game road trip that started 10 days ago in Phoenix with a loss. They can go .500 for the trip with a win against the T'wolves, which is a decent possibility since they aren't very good. The Mavs have won seven straight against Minnesota and won their last game against them by 23.

Foye is finally back
Second-year guard Randy Foye (or as I like to refer to him "Not Brandon Roy") missed the first 43 games this season from a knee injury. He has played well lately and is averaging 14.7 points and 5 assists over his last three games. Backup point guard Sebastian Telfair had filled in decently most of the year, but Foye is the player the T'wolves are looking to develop as part of their core, and once he's healthy, that may start to happen.

Green out of town
Right after putting on an admirable defense of his slam-dunk crown, Gerald Green, who was part of the Kevin Garnett trade, was shipped off to Houston at the trade deadline for Kirk Snyder. Neither was contributing to their current teams, and Minnesota evidently obliged Green's request to be moved out of town. Snyder only played nine games for the Rockets and has yet to play for the T'wolves.

No unloading here
Green may have left town, but the Timberwolves didn't join their fellows at the bottom in Seattle and Memphis by shipping out big contracts and acquiring more youngsters. Many suspected that players like Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner or  Marko Jaric could be headed out of town for youngsters and cap relief, but the T'wolves didn't do it.

Burning question
Can they hit windfall and win a top three pick in the lottery this summer?

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Catching up with...the Memphis Grizzlies

The Mavs will face the Grizzlies tonight for the fourth and final time this season. The Mavs have used the Grizzlies as a punching bag this year and have won all three of their meetings so far by an average of 11 points. The Mavs have now beat the Grizzlies in 10 straight regular-season games.

It's pretty much over
Not much was expected of the Grizzlies this year, and they have roundly delivered on those expectations. They have spent the last month dumping what salary they can and acquiring draft picks and youngsters when possible. They have lost 9 of their last 10 and the lottery drawing can't come fast enough. They are still one of the worst defensive teams in the league and have allowed under 100 points in only 2 of their last 13 games.

Bigs not doing much
The Grizzlies didn't trade for Kwame Brown with the expectation that he would be a great player, but he has been a complete non-factor thus far. Meanwhile, Memphis probably expected Darko Milicic to thrive under the expanded workload and absence of Pau Gasol. That has also been fruitless. In his last three games, Darko has averaged a mere 2 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Warrick thriving
With Gasol out of the picture, Hakim Warrick has made the best of the situation. He's really come alive lately and is averaging 20.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 57.3 percent from the floor in his last five games. If he can continue to play with gusto, he could join Rudy Gay as another one of the pieces the Grizzlies plan to build around for the future.

Burning question
Will Mike Miller be dealt on draft day for a higher pick? (My bold prediction says yes.)

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd

Can the General lighten up?

In Friday’s Star-Telegram, I will have a column on Avery Johnson adjusting his coaching style with Jason Kidd on the team. Avery has to go from a guy who jumped off the bench on almost every play to call a play to a coach who needs to trust a point guard who will be in the Hall of Fame.

Dallas assistant coach Paul Westphal said he believes Johnson can make the adjustment because he’s appreciative of Kidd’s superior skills. Here is a quote that I did not use in the column, but it will give you a preview.

“It’s hard to say that he’s been banging his head against the wall because Devin Harris is a good player and Jason Terry is a good point guard,” Westphal said. “But they’re different. Avery would see things that they didn’t see and it would frustrate him.

“There were other ways that they could make the play but they weren’t seeing the game the way that he sees it. He knows that Jason sees the same game that he sees. It’s almost a relief for him to not have the tension of saying ‘How could you not see that?’”

 

-- Jan Hubbard

New Jersey 1, Mavericks 0

OK, OK. It's early to judge. But the old Nets, who played without Devin Harris, managed to win their first game without Jason Kidd while the Mavericks lost. Yes, it should be noted that the Nets played the worthless Bulls while the Mavericks played this Hornets team that just keeps proving everyone wrong. We all keep waiting for the Hornets to fold and they show no signs. They have a great point guard in Chris Paul, two powerful inside players in David West and Tyson Chandler, and one of the best outside shooters in the league in Peja Stojakovic. And they also have instant offense off the bench in Bobby Jackson.

What's not to like?

Jackson was 5-of-9 from three point range, Paul (30-11-9 steals) nearly had a triple double and Kidd played like the new guy on the block in his first game.

The first game was a perfect reflection of the trade to get Kidd in Dallas. The Mavericks are definitely a better passing team, but a weaker defensive team. We'll see how it plays out.

-- Jan Hubbard

Here are your totals

For the Hornets, 104; for the Mavericks, 93. New Orleans point guard Chris Paul misses a triple-double by one steal. He had 31 points (11-of-20 shooting), 11 assists and nine steals, going for the TD the hard way. Oh yes, and five rebounds.

Jason Kidd, making his second-act debut with the Mavericks, checked in after a weird, wacky week with eight points (3-of-6 shooting), six rebounds, five assists, three steals and six turnovers.

NBA beat writer Jan Hubbard will be along in a couple of hours to tell you what happened and why at www.star-telegram.com/sports.

This baby is over

The Hornets are up 17, 94-77, with about four minutes left, and Chris Paul has 31, teasing history with a possible triple-double.

Chris Paul guy is pretty good

The answer as to who has the better of it? That would be Chris Paul. The Hornets point guard took over the third quarter, and New Orleans leads the visiting Mavericks 75-64. Paul now has 25 points, 10 assists, seven steals and four rebounds. He is 10-of-15 shooting, which is good.

Jason Kidd's numbers after three quarters in his re-debut game: four points, five rebounds, five assists, 2-for-5 shooting.

4's are wild for Kidd at half

The Mavericks are trailing the Hornets 47-44 at halftime. Jason Kidd's unofficial line at the half: 20 minutes, 2-for-4 shooting, 0-for-1 on 3's, no free throws, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and three turnovers. He has a shot at his 100th career triple-double in his first game back with the Mavericks.

His point guard counterpart, the Hornets' Chris Paul, has six points and eight assists in 18 minutes.

Who has the better of it?

After one quarter, Mavs are behind

Jason Kidd's first-quarter line with the Mavs trailing in New Orleans 24-22: 8 minutes, 1-for-1 on field goals (who says he couldn't shoot?), no 3-point attempt (wise), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, only 1 turnover, 2 points.