Dallas Mavericks
SAD NEWS: Dallas Mavericks head coach just summitted his resignation letter to the management.T
ransformed in pace of play and defensively, Dallas enters its playoff series vs. the Clippers as a 50-win team for the second time in Kidd’s three seasons.
Dallas’ fifth defeat in six games, nearly 40 minutes elapsed before Kidd emerged from the locker room to speak to reporters, who peppered him with pointed questions about the state of the team.
Calmly, patiently, Kidd spent 15 minutes answering every query.
“This is actually a great test for us, to be able to go through a hard time in March because it only gets harder in April and May and June,” he said that night. “So this is a great test in the sense of ‘Are we gonna let go of the rope?’ “
Six weeks later, as the Mavericks near Sunday’s start of their first-round playoff series against the Clippers in Crypto.com Arena, it’s abundantly clear that they, if anything, tightened their grip on that rope.
It’s clear from their 16-2 record immediately following that Indiana loss.
It’s extra-definitive in the sense that 11 of those wins were by double-digit points and that the average victory margin was 14.4 points.
Obviously Kidd’s decision to insert Daniel Gafford and Derrick Jones Jr. into the starting lineup made a season-saving difference, providing the answer to the question that Kidd posed on that March 5 night when a reporter asked if the team might look back on the adversity of going 1-5.
“Yes, if we get hot, then everybody will ask, ‘Well, how did this thing turn around?’ ” Kidd said. “It’s about the group staying together, coming to work every day with a positive attitude and energy. And having fun.”