Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd addressed Monday night’s 125-122 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, highlighting the team’s second-half fight. “We got off to a bad start here… the guys kept playing, kept fighting and took the lead and had an opportunity,” Kidd said.
Kidd praised the execution on key possessions despite the loss. “It was perfect. Wide open shot. Cooper made the right play. Drove it. They collapsed. Naji’s wide open. Didn’t make it,” he said, referencing a late fourth-quarter possession.
On a controversial call overturning Brandon Williams’ play, Kidd explained, “They explained that it was their interpretation or it’s up to them to make the decision on whose ball it is… With none of our players close to the ball, they gave it to Portland.” He added that the league needs to “look at trying to clean that up” for future close games.
Kidd also spoke about Williams’ performance, noting, “He was good in the second half… Had good looks. Put us in a position to win that game.” He emphasized that late-game execution remains a lesson for the team: “Close games, we got to go through it and be able to execute late game.”
On Caleb Love’s impact for Portland, Kidd acknowledged, “He was good down the stretch, too. He made some big plays and then he got some calls where he got fouled and stepped up and made the free throws.” Kidd stressed the difficulty of defending the Blazers’ shooting: “Seems like right now everybody’s making threes on us.”
The Mavericks battled back from a 17-point second-quarter deficit, with Klay Thompson tying the game at 99 early in the fourth quarter and Dallas briefly taking a 122-121 lead with 1:09 remaining. Portland ultimately pulled away with Love’s free throws and Shaedon Sharpe’s late foul shots.
Max Christie led the Mavericks with 25 points, while Williams added 22 and Cooper Flagg contributed 15 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Portland was paced by Deni Avdija’s near triple-double with 27 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds, alongside Sharpe’s 24 points.
The Blazers improve to 14-19 and will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, while Dallas falls to 12-22 and hosts Philadelphia on Thursday. Kidd concluded, reflecting on the loss: “We just couldn’t get the stop or we fouled… We got good looks down the stretch that just didn’t go down for us.”
