Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd acknowledged the challenges his team faced in a 126-116 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day. “The schedule hasn’t been in our favor… we started this trip on the East Coast and here now we’re in San Francisco,” Kidd said, noting the difficulty of travel.
Kidd emphasized rebounding struggles and missing key players. “We just weren’t able to rebound the ball and that’s been something that’s hurt here of late. Losing AD definitely hurt. One of our best players goes out,” he added, highlighting Anthony Davis’ absence after groin spasms limited him to 11 minutes.
Despite the loss, Kidd praised the effort of his roster. “The next man up… I thought the guys again fought and we just couldn’t get a stop when we needed to,” he said, pointing to the team’s resilience late in the game.
Brandon Williams received significant praise for his Christmas Day 26-point debut. “B was great. He was attacking, getting to the paint, finishing, passing, finding guys… his speed was big for us this afternoon,” Kidd said.
Rookie Cooper Flagg scored 27 points on 13-of-21 shooting with six rebounds and five assists. “Aggressiveness after it was great. Cooper’s doing everything off pick and roll… he was a little frustrated that he missed some free throws, but overall he’s playing at a very high level for us and we need that,” Kidd said.
Kidd also discussed offensive execution and missed opportunities. “We missed a lot of layups in that first half, and that led to layups on the other end or wide-open threes,” he said. He noted the team’s three-point struggles, explaining, “We have to be able to shoot the three. Right now our three-point shooters aren’t getting enough touches… to be able to shoot the three, you’ve got to take it.”
Free-throw shooting was another area of concern. “We’re getting to the free throw line a lot and we’re not making the free throws,” Kidd said, stressing the importance of converting opportunities at the line to generate open looks from beyond the arc.
The Mavericks remain focused on growth despite falling to 12-20. Kidd concluded, “This is a good game for us to learn from… sometimes you just go through a stretch when you don’t make free throws or you don’t make layups or you don’t make threes. But we’re getting to the free throw line and so that’s the number one thing.”
The Warriors improved to 16-15 behind 23 points from Stephen Curry and a near triple-double from Jimmy Butler, while Dallas prepares to face Sacramento on Saturday. Kidd’s remarks underscore both the learning opportunities from the loss and the promising performance of young players like Flagg and Williams.
