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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, February 19, 2009

Mavericks not Kidd-ing around

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd drives against New Jersey Nets guard Devin Harris during the third quarter in Dallas.

LM OTERO | Associated Press

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DALLAS — If he had it do all over again, Mark Cuban would still swap Devin Harris for Jason Kidd.

Kidd's performance against Harris last night showed why.

A month shy of his 36th birthday, but refreshed from an All-Star break vacation on a beach in Mexico, Kidd had 23 points and 10 assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 113-98 victory over Harris and the New Jersey Nets on the eve of the first anniversary of the big trade.

Kidd surprised his former mates by nailing three 3-pointers and scoring 12 points in the first quarter. He was even better in the third period, scoring 11 points while piloting a 40-point outburst, Dallas' best of the season, to turn a close game into a rout.

Antoine Wright continued to show he was more than just a throw-in on the deal by scoring 20 points, including 13 in the third. With Josh Howard scoring 24, and Dirk Nowitzki adding 23, the Mavs had four starters hit 20 points. Erick Dampier added 10, putting them all in double figures — yet another testament to Kidd's leadership.

"Tonight, he gave it to us from start to finish and had a great floor game," coach Rick Carlisle said. "He was just tremendous at both ends."

The Mavs were struggling a few weeks ago, but they're starting to surge. And Kidd is a major reason for it. Dallas is 7-2 since Carlisle let him start running the offense.

"We've put ourselves in position that if we make a run, we can get a high seed," Kidd said.

New Jersey lost its fourth straight, all by at least 15 points, and Harris looked nothing like the guy who scored 41 points in a 24-point victory over the Mavs earlier this season.

A few days removed from his first All-Star appearance — a nod that revved up questions about whether Dallas gave up too soon on the youngster — Harris went more than 20 minutes before scoring. He finished with 18 points, but made only five of 18 shots. He also got the worst of consecutive run-ins with Kidd in the pivotal third quarter, first getting landed on while on defense, then dribbling up the court and having Kidd snatch the ball away while trying to drive by him.

"Obviously they remembered what happened in New Jersey," Harris said. "They came out with more energy. The first two quarters, we were with them stride for stride, but the third quarter is what's done us in all season. Scoring 15, giving up 40, that's a tough stretch to come back from."

HORNETS 117, MAGIC 85

NEW ORLEANS — Chris Paul had 36 points and 10 assists, Rasual Butler added 15 points, and New Orleans rolled to a 56-33 halftime lead in handing Orlando its worst loss of the season.

Orlando's previous worst loss was by 19 points to Boston on Dec. 1.

TIMBERWOLVES 111, HEAT 104

MIAMI — Sebastian Telfair had 30 points and eight assists, and Minnesota hit a season-high 14 3-pointers to spoil Jermaine O'Neal's debut in Miami.

O'Neal, who sustained a right eye injury in the third quarter and missed 13 minutes, had 13 points in his first game since being acquired from Toronto last week.

CAVALIERS 93, RAPTORS 76

TORONTO — LeBron James had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 22 points to lead Cleveland.

Needing two rebounds and one assist in the final quarter for his 21st career triple-double, James had six points but only one rebound before leaving the game for good with about 3 minutes remaining.

NUGGETS 101, 76ERS 89

PHILADELPHIA — Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Chauncey Billups added 22 points, including 13 in a 24-4 run that erased a 10-point deficit and gave Denver a 61-51 lead en route to its third straight victory.

Andre Miller led Philadelphia with 17 points, but strained his right calf with 7 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

BOBCATS 103, PACERS 94

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gerald Wallace had 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Raymond Felton added 16 points to lead Charlotte past Indiana.

Troy Murphy had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers. All-Star forward Danny Granger left after spraining his right foot early in the second quarter.

BULLS 113, BUCKS 104

MILWAUKEE — Kirk Hinrich scored a season-high 31 points, and Luol Deng added 21 as Chicago held off Milwaukee.

Chicago acquired center Brad Miller and forward John Salmons from the Kings in exchange for Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Michael Ruffin and Cedric Simmons.

TRAIL BLAZERS 94, GRIZZLIES 90

PORTLAND, Ore. — Brandon Roy had 24 points, including two layups and two free throws in the final minutes, to help Portland turn back Memphis.

Roy's layup followed by Travis Outlaw's 3-pointer with 2:31 left put the Blazers up 90-86. Roy had another layup to make it 92-88, and after O.J. Mayo's finger-roll made it 92-90 with 5.4 seconds left, Roy made a pair of free throws for the final margin.

HAWKS 105, KINGS 100

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Former Sacramento guard Mike Bibby scored 29 points to help Atlanta beat the short-handed Kings, who earlier in the day traded starters Brad Miller and John Salmons to Chicago.

After Sacramento's Bobby Jackson made two free throws to tie it at 100 with 57 seconds left, Joe Johnson hit a short bank shot and the Hawks added three free throws in the final 41 seconds.

SUNS 142, CLIPPERS 119

LOS ANGELES — Amare Stoudemire had 42 points and 11 rebounds, and Steve Nash had 21 points and 12 assists to lead Phoenix to a rout of Los Angeles.

The Suns, who played their second game under interim head coach Alvin Gentry, are back to their old ways of up-tempo basketball following Monday's firing of Terry Porter.

LAKERS 129, WARRIORS 121

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol added 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Los Angeles rallied in the final 5 minutes to beat Golden State for its 13th victory in 15 games.

Lamar Odom scored 22 points for the Lakers, who have improved the NBA's best record to 44-10 with back-to-back wins following the All-Star break.

NOTES

Clippers' Randolph suspended: The Los Angeles Clippers played the second game of their home-and-home set against the Phoenix Suns without center Zach Randolph, who began serving a two-game suspension without pay last night following a violent exchange with Louis Amundson in Tuesday's humiliating 140-100 loss.

Randolph and Amundson were jockeying for position in the paint in the waning moments when Randolph shoved the Suns' reserve forward to the floor with his forearm, then hit Amundson in the face with an open hand after Amundson got back to his feet. Randolph, who was immediately ejected, also will miss Sunday's game at Portland.

Thunder-Hornets trade: The Oklahoma City Thunder rescinded their trade with New Orleans, sending center Tyson Chandler back to the Hornets. Chandler failed a physical yesterday, and the Thunder backed out of the deal that sent Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith and second-round pick DeVon Hardin to New Orleans. No specific reason was given as to why Chandler didn't pass the physical.

Lakers-Grizzlies trade: The Los Angeles Lakers traded seldom-used center Chris Mihm to the Memphis Grizzlies yesterday, receiving a future draft pick in exchange. Mihm has appeared in 18 games this season, averaging two points and 1.9 rebounds while playing 4.8 minutes. The Lakers received a conditional second-round pick in 2013 from the Grizzlies.