DALLAS — Before the Mavericks faced the Raptors on Wednesday night, Jason Kidd likened the game — and the previous game and all the regular-season games to come — to a daily dress rehearsal for the playoffs.
Even with the postseason no guarantee and still almost three months away, the Mavericks coach has been evaluating how his players respond to different challenges, runs and scenarios.
Dallas and leading showman Luka Doncic looked ready for a spotlight performance in their 102-98 victory over Toronto.
Doncic scored a season-high 41 points — far surpassing his previous best at 33 — and added a season-high-tying 14 rebounds and seven assists. He might have logged a fourth triple-double in six games had his teammates swished a few more of his crafty passes.
The most emphatic highlight came with one minute remaining, with the Mavericks up 97-96, when he found his sweet spot on the left wing and swished his fourth 3-pointer of the game.
The bucket served as the deciding points in the Mavericks’ fifth straight victory in American Airlines Center — and their 10th in their last 11 games — and a dazzling conclusion to Doncic’s best game this season.
Before the game, Kidd gave an insightful glimpse into why he’s handled some of the Mavericks’ periods of adversity in non-traditional ways and why he considers each close outing a chance for his team to build its playoff potential.
The most recent example: Kidd didn’t call a timeout in the third quarter Monday when the rebuilding, bottom-of-the-standings Oklahoma City Thunder reeled off a 22-2 run to almost erase Dallas’ 22-point lead.
Kidd didn’t want to give his players an out for letting up in intensity. He wanted to see how they’d “coach themselves” on the court, how they’d regroup mid-action to settle down and finish a victory.
In short, how they might handle a similar situation in the playoffs.
“Normally, early in the year, that would’ve been a meltdown and we would’ve never come back from that,” Kidd said. “It’s not the coach who turned the engines off. It’s the players, so there’s got to be some responsibility, accountability.
“Chemistry and accountability are the words that we use this year, and I think it’s interesting to see the growth of guys being able to not rely on a timeout to fix things on the court. Championship teams have that ability, and hopefully we’re growing this group to be that.”
Toronto provided a few more chances for the Mavericks to prove their fortitude.
The Raptors logged 26 points in the paint in the first 14 minutes of the game and capitalized on defensive mismatches when Mavericks guards would wind up guarding one of their long, agile wings down low.
They used physical play and some junk defenses, a hallmark of coach Nick Nurse’s game plans against Doncic. There was even some coach-to-superstar jawing when Nurse and Doncic shouted back and forth a couple times — with some colorful language from Doncic — during the fourth quarter.
And the Raptors pulled ahead, 96-95, with 1:55 remaining when Fred VanVleet hit a 3-pointer.
Consider the gritty nature of the game as extra motivation for Doncic.
He sunk a layup on the ensuing possession after VanVleet’s 3 to regain a lead the Mavericks didn’t relinquish, and he polished it off with his first outing with at least four 3-pointers since Nov. 23.
The 22-year-old entered the game shooting 17% from 3 (9 of 53) in the eight games since he returned from missing 10 with left ankle soreness and COVID-19.
But he sunk his first long-range look, tapping his hands to his chest and looking toward the rafters. He hit another in the third quarter. After his back-and-forth with Nurse, he drilled a third.
He finished 13 of 24 from the field (54.1%) — his fifth-best shooting percentage this season — and 4 of 10 from 3, the first time he’d shot at least 40% since Dec. 8.
Kristaps Porzingis (18 points and seven rebounds) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (16 points on 7 of 10 shooting) served as standout supporting contributors to Doncic’s premiere role.
The Mavericks earned their second clutch-time win in as many games — with another opportunity for playoff-like competition looming Thursday night against the NBA-best Suns in the second half of this back-to-back.
