Mavs turned everything around following loss to Pacers

No one would blame Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd if he opened up his office door and shouted “I told you so” to anyone who would listen.

After the Mavs suffered an embarrassing 137-120 loss at home to the Indiana Pacers on March 5, Kidd said: “Our offense is one of the best in the league. So, if we can expend some of that energy on the defensive end, hopefully that gives us a better chance to get a stop.”

Fast forward to the ensuing 18 games, and the Mavs took Kidd’s advice and strung together one of the best defenses in the entire NBA. Their reward? They spit out an impressive 16-2 record during that amazing stretch, and opened a lot of eyes across the NBA landscape along the way.

So, does Kidd feel vindicated in any way?

“Vindicated? No,” Kidd said. “The goal is to win a championship. I’ve had the opportunity to do it as a player and a coach, and now I would like to do it again as a coach.

“The season wasn’t over on March 5. It wasn’t our first loss. It wasn’t our first bad loss. So, it’s just a matter of learning.”

The Mavs certainly learned a lot about themselves from that horrible loss to the Pacers. And they turned that negative into a huge positive.

“Sometimes matchups — you get bad matchups,” Kidd said. “It happens. But as long as you keep learning and everybody stays together, and that’s what happened, I would say, after March 5 with all the opinions that were right or wrong.

“But that’s just part of our business. That’s just what it is. I’ve been in this too long to complain. I’m always going to take questions in a positive way and learn from it.”

In Kidd’s eyes, complaints and Monday morning quarterbacking goes with the territory.

“It’s just part of the job as being a coach,” he said. “You’re going to be criticized about what others think. There’s nothing I can do but do my job and support and help the guys in that locker room.

“Patience is a key in life, not in sport, but in real life. Those guys in that locker room understand patience and understood what the journey (is about).”

IRVING’S WORDS OF WISDOM: Before the Mavs’ first practice on Tuesday, guard Kyrie Irving was among the veterans to talk to the team about the playoffs. Specifically, Irving wanted to get the young players’ undivided attention.

Irving’s message?

“Just to have a great approach and a great mentality,” he said. “Be prepared for war, metaphorically. It’s the most difficult time to win ballgames because you know the other team well — their tendencies.

“After Game 1, it’s pretty much adjustments. You just got to stay balanced and limit distractions. Just do what you’ve been doing since you were a kid and have fun doing it. Our young guys will be prepared, but until they go through it they won’t have any idea what it’s like.”

Irving is especially looking forward to seeing how guard Jaden Hardy and forward P.J. Washington — who have never been in the playoffs – react to life in the postseason.

“I’m excited for them and to be alongside and lead them,” Irving said. “I had that in my first playoff series against the Celtics when I was 24.

“So my first game went pretty well. We won. There’s nothing to be nervous about. We’ve been playing basketball our whole lives. We ended the season really well, so we have confidence going into the playoffs.”

JONES ON LEONARD: The Clippers seriously may not know if forward Kawhi Leonard will be able to play when their best-of-seven series against the Mavs starts on Sunday. But it’s not something that’s occupying the minds of the Mavs.

“I’m not worried about that,” forward Derrick Jones Jr. said. “I’m preparing my mindset and my game for him to play.

“It’s a big game. It’s a playoff game. I don’t think he wants to miss it. I don’t think the (Clippers) want him to miss it.”

Jones may be asked to guard Leonard at some point during this series, and he’s doing his homework on the six-time All-Star.

“You never should prepare for someone not to be there,” Jones said. “Always prepare for them to be there.

“Always prepare for the best, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Leonard is the only player in NBA history to win Most Valuable Player accolades during the NBA Finals in each conference. In 2014 while playing for the Western Conference’s San Antonio Spurs, he was the Finals’ MVP. And in 2019 while playing for the Eastern Conference’s Toronto Raptors, he again was the Finals’ MVP.

By the way, Leonard has committed to play for Team USA this summer in the Paris Olympics.

BRIEFLY: Here’s what has happened to the local professional sports teams in less than six months. Since Nov. 1 until the present, the Texas Rangers won the World Series, the Dallas Cowboys captured the NFC East title, the Dallas Stars won the NHL Central Division, the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Southwest Division, and FC Dallas advanced to the MSL playoffs. Thus, the DFW can make a strong case for being the city of champions. . .The two trades on Feb. 8 that brought in center Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards and forward P.J. Washington from the Charlotte Hornets were akin to a seismic shift, as far as the Mavs’ organization is concerned. Those two additions gave the Mavs some valuable rim protectors and rebounders, which are vital tools every championship team has in their arsenal. “When you talk about Gaff and PJ coming in, I think they really have helped change the culture, the chemistry of fitting right in and not complaining,” coach Jason Kidd said. “They just came in and did their work at a very high level and I think that’s rubbed off on the other guys that are here.” Of Gafford, Kidd added: “I think when you look at his hands, (he has) great hands.”. .Backup center Dereck Lively II last played on March 31 when he suffered a sprained right knee against the Houston Rockets. He also is dealing with the death of his mother, who died a week ago. But, Lively has been back on the practice court this week, and is ready to assume his role backing up Daniel Gafford. “He’s an incredible young man,” Kidd said. “His spirit is in a good place of what he’s going through off the floor. You wouldn’t know with the way that he had practice today. But we all know being with him (Wednesday) what he’s going through. As a 20-year old, he’s been incredible. We’re here to support what he’s doing off the floor. But again, he came to work today and he did a great job.”. .When the Washington Wizards traded Daniel Gafford to the Mavs on Feb. 8, he saw that transaction through the same prism when the Chicago Bulls traded him to the Wizards on March 25, 2021. “It was one door closed and another door opened for me,” Gafford said. “It was another opportunity for me to get better just throughout my career. It’s just something that I really just hold my head up high on, because at the end of the day this is a business. Every destination is not probably going to be a solidified destination. That’s something I learned early on, because when I went through my first year-and-a-half (in the NBA), I did get traded from Chicago, so it was pretty much the same way. Just piggy backing off of something that I had already experienced, and just taking it one day at a time.”

X: @DwainPrice