DALLAS - Napatalsik sa laro si Dirk Nowitzki. Ang isang 16-point lead ay napaliit sa isang four-point deficit. At ang huling 13-game winning streak ay tila matagal nang nangyari.
Ngunit may isa pang bagay na mayroon ang Dallas Mavericks.
Ipinagdiwang ang kanyang pang 37th birthday, umiskor si Jason Kidd ng season-high 26 points para igiya ang Mavericks sa 106-96 panalo sa Los Angeles Clippers.
“Since Dirk was gone, I thought I would play Dirk today,” wika ni Kidd, naglista ng 10-of-21 field goals at 6-of-11 sa 3-point line. “I had some great looks early on that went in and out. Earlier in my career, I would’ve stopped shooting because I missed a couple. But I thought the team needed some scoring so I stepped up.”
Matapos ang kanilang 13-game winning run, nakalasap naman ang Dallas ng isang three-game losing skid.
Umiskor ang Mavericks ng 62 points sa first half at komportable nang nakatutok sa kanilang panalo nang napatalsik si Nowitzki sa 9:16 sa third quarter.
Hindi nagustuhan ni refree Bill Kennedy ang sinabi sa kanya ni Nowitzki kaya niya ito sinipa sa laro matapos matawagan ng foul.
“That was a bad decision by Dirk,” ani Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. “It put the team in a terrible situation and he knows it was wrong. If you get a technical, you get one and make your point and you got to let it go. He is too important to us.”
Isang alley-oop pass ni Kidd kay rookie Rodrigue Beaubois para sa slam dunk nito ang nagpasimula sa inihulog na 22-3 bomba ng Dallas kontra Los Angeles patungo sa kanilang panalo