NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAVERICKS VS. WARRIORS

May 20, 2022

Jason Kidd

Dallas Mavericks

Game 2: Postgame

Golden State - 126, Dallas - 117

Q. Jason, is this a case of championship experience against some of the youth of your team tonight?

JASON KIDD: No, the Warriors are good. They're a good team. We executed there for a little bit. That third quarter we talked about and understood that's when they turn up the heat.

We got great looks, but we have to do better. We have to understand, when we shoot three or four threes in a row and miss, you've got to get to the rim and got to get the ball into the paint, got to get to the free-throw line. That's just understanding the situation, learning, and maybe it is experience.

Again, the guys came out and executed from the start and put ourselves in a position to win on the road.

Q. You also lost the battle of the boards, but as you said, you've got to play smaller lineups. Looney had a pretty big game against you guys. What can you do to try to lessen his impact as the series goes on?

JASON KIDD: Yeah, you've got to put a body on him. You've got to box him out. We have to team rebound and make sure that he doesn't come up with the rebound but that's -- he's one of the guys that no one writes about or talks about, but we understand the impact he has on the game of giving those guys second or third opportunities. For him to have five offensive rebounds, that puts us in harm's way.

Q. Why do you think the dam broke for you guys defensively in the fourth quarter?

JASON KIDD: Offense, offense. We play defense when we play offense, and we play no defense when we can't score. That's something that we have to get better at this time of the year. You can get away with it in the regular season, but just understanding the defensive principles, we just have to do better.

Q. On some of the dunks they were able to get, guys like Kevon Looney, some of the breakdowns, where was the breakdown in the chain of the rotation there, like where were you seeing the defense come apart?

JASON KIDD: I think just they made plays, and we just have to do better. They attacked the paint. We've got to protect the rim. When we go back to look at that, that's one of the things that we have to do better. When we looked after Game 1, we did a lot better with the physicality of the game, being able to make shots there in that first half, we made shots. Again, putting ourselves in a position, and then we got those same shots in the third.

But when you go 2-for-13 and you rely on the three, you can die by the three, and we died in the third quarter by shooting that many threes and coming up with only two.

Q. Jason, what goes into the thought process, especially there in the third quarter, they make their big run and get back in the basketball game, how do you evaluate when to call a timeout and when not to? When do you try to use that or perhaps not use that to stem the tide in that situation?

JASON KIDD: You only have so many timeouts. I can't burn them all in the third. So just understanding we've gone through runs. This is a team about runs. Also, this is a great learning experience for a young team to go through to understand what it means to stop a run. Can't ask the coach to always call a timeout. We believe in one another to be able to execute on the offensive end and get a stop or get a basket and get a stop.

So we took timeouts. But just sometimes you've got to put the ball in the basket to stop a run.

Q. You guys have taken pretty much the most threes in the postseason and you've won that way. In your eyes, what's the difference from taking too many threes? Or what's, say, a three-point shot that you guys were taking that it would be better for a different outcome?

JASON KIDD: If you make them, that's great, but you just have to understand, if you miss four in a row, you can't take the fifth. You've got to make it. That just puts too much stress on yourself and on your team because, if you're not getting stops on the other end, it turns into a blowout. So that's what I mean by understanding what situations we put ourselves in by shooting four threes in a row.

If you shoot the fifth one, you've got to be able to make it. If you don't, you're on the other end of a blowout, and that's what happened in the third quarter.

Q. Jason, you guys have shown the ability to be resilient at multiple, different stops through this postseason. Is this as big a piece of adversity your team has faced in these playoffs, having such a big lead and allowing it to go away?

JASON KIDD: It's basketball. We're on the road against one of the best teams in the league. It happens. They held serve. We've seen this in Phoenix. So now we have to go back and just focus on Game 3 and get ready for Game 3, understanding what's at stake. We just have to protect home and focus on that first possession.

Q. I was just curious, what did you think about Luka's resolve and his grit, knowing he wasn't at full strength heading into this and hadn't had a great game in Game 1?

JASON KIDD: We talked about that before the game that we thought he would have a good game and he did. That's just who he is. He put his team in a position to win on the road, not just by having 42 points, but only had two turnovers and took care of the ball tonight. He was a great quarterback. He got guys wide open shots. We just have to make them.