Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd addressed key moments and injuries after Thursday’s 116-114 loss to the Utah Jazz at Delta Center.
On Anthony Davis’ late-game injury, Kidd said, “He hurt his left hand, so that’s all we have.” He added, “Well, like on the playhead, he… signaled that he was okay,” noting the challenge of balancing trust and caution.
On a crucial play where a Cooper Flagg basket was waved off due to a violation, Kidd noted Dallas still led by two. “It was a violation. So, there’s we knew that. We’re still up two and we just couldn’t we couldn’t get a basket. They did.”
Kidd commended the team’s competitiveness. “The group competed. We found a way to take a lead. Again, just trying we got to do the little things and take care of the ball. You know, we had 20 something turnovers. That’s that’s tough to win in this league.”
The coach addressed the challenge of injuries and illnesses. “I don’t think it’s tough. I think it’s just that’s our norm with injuries or sickness. We lose guys, next guy up.”
Kidd praised several bench players. “I thought Ryan did a good job for us. Caleb did a good job. Klay did a great job. You know, his 900th game, to come off the bench and gave us a spark.”
He highlighted Cooper Flagg’s strong play in Utah. “He does play well. I thought he was, you know, was great. He got great looks. Made some some plays for his teammates. Again, he was he was big for us offensively and he got us going there in that second quarter right before half.”
Regarding a late sequence where Davis remained in the game despite pain, allowing Lauri Markkanen an easy layup, Kidd explained. “I think the the smart players just take a foul. That’s what we should have done. He he felt like he was fine. We come back down yelling, ‘Take a foul.’ We didn’t take a foul. He gets a layup and then we have to take a timeout.”
Kidd stressed the teaching moment. “We’ll learn from it that we can take a foul side out and then we can sub.”
On why Dallas frequently plays close games, Kidd said. “Play hard. Group plays hard. Finds a way to get back in games. And then understand to be able to close them out. We’ve closed some out and we’ve lost some. And so we’re learning how to play in close games. This group is comfortable playing in close games. It’s just you win some, you lose some.”
Kidd pinpointed turnover issues. “Just hold on to it maybe a second longer. For us to start that fourth, we had two careless turnovers. And so we have to be better. We get this we get the ball to start the fourth, we turn it over with no pressure, and then understanding we get the rebound, and then we turn it over before we get over half court.”
Kidd recognized Utah’s key duo of Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George. “Those two can score. They get to their dominant hand and they can score the ball. They’re very confident. They get they get downhill. They don’t settle and so they’re playing at a high level and you saw that tonight.”
Dallas committed 20 turnovers, leading to 25 Utah points. The Mavericks travel to Chicago to play the Bulls on Saturday.
