SAN FRANCISCO — More than the Mavericks’ frigid offensive turn and more than their defensive lapses, Dallas fans amplified one specific gripe Friday night during the team’s fateful third-quarter downfall in Game 2:
Why didn’t coach Jason Kidd call a timeout?
That was a fair question as the Mavericks’ melted their 14-point halftime lead in Chase Center down into a nine-point loss and 0-2 series deficit in the Western Conference finals.
But it’s also a question Kidd has answered several times over the last four months as he’s challenged and empowered the Mavericks’ core to develop confidence and edge in adverse situations.
Kidd’s approach to letting players work through opposing runs, rather than calling a conventional timeout to pause momentum and readjust, has been magnified during the playoffs.
But Luka Doncic and the Mavericks have said throughout the season — and after Game 2 — that they appreciate Kidd’s leeway and trust in a change from past leadership styles.
”He’s the coach. He’s the boss. Whatever he says is good,” Doncic said. “Sometimes he’s going to take a timeout, sometimes no. I think obviously, when you play away, I think he’s going to take more timeouts than at home. At home it’s a little bit easier because of the crowd.
Kidd used six of his seven total timeouts in Game 2:
— Two in the first quarter, including one late in the period to pause a 12-0 Warriors run that had cut Dallas’ 15-point lead to 3.
— One with 2:21 remaining in the second quarter
— None in the third quarter.
— Three in the fourth, but not until 7:48 remained and the Warriors had scored on six of seven consecutive possessions to take a five-point lead.
In the third, the Warriors logged a 25-13 scoring advantage, and the Mavericks’ followed their sharp-shooting first half with a 2 of 13 slog from three. Dallas led by double digits until 5:41 remained in the period and by 2 points (85-83) entering the fourth.
Meanwhile, Golden State coach Steve Kerr called two timeouts in the third, including while on a 12-4 run midway through the frame.
Why did Kidd not take one of his four remaining breaks to reset during one of the costliest stretches of the season?
”You only have so many timeouts,” Kidd said. “I can’t burn them all in the third, so just understanding we’ve gone through runs. This is a [Warriors] team about runs. Also, this is a great learning experience for a young team to go through to understand what it means to stop a run. Can’t ask the coach to always call a timeout.
“We believe in one another to be able to execute on the offensive end and get a stop or get a basket and get a stop. So we took timeouts, but just sometimes you’ve got to put the ball in the basket to stop a run.”
Kidd’s view has remained consistent throughout his first season leading Dallas — regardless of opponent or situation.
He first fielded a question about his timeout philosophy Jan. 19, two days after the Mavericks beat Oklahoma City by two points. They’d led by as many as 22 points with less than six minutes remaining in that third quarter, but the lottery-bound Thunder closed that period on a 24-5 run to force clutch time down the stretch.
Kidd didn’t call a timeout then, either.
As a Hall of Fame point guard, he’d disliked momentum-based stoppages and felt they sometimes influenced the game opposite how his coaches intended. He wanted to test the Mavericks to “see how different guys react to different situations” and allow them to take pride in organizing and re-establishing control on the court.
“Somehow our engines were kind of, like, turned off for whatever reason,” Kidd said then. “It’s not the coach who turned the engines off. It’s the players, so there’s got to be some responsibility, accountability. Chemistry and accountability are the words that we use this year, and I think it’s interesting to see [the] growth of guys being able to not rely on a timeout to fix things on the court.
“Championship teams have that ability, and hopefully we’re growing this group to be that.”
The Mavericks looked the winning part last Sunday during their Game 7 blowout win over the NBA-best Phoenix Suns.
Before that contest, Kidd said he’d maintain his typical timeout flexibility, no matter the win-or-go-home stakes.
“The previous coach would take timeouts right away on a 2-0 run or a 4-0 run,” Kidd said then. “I want my guys to work through it, and this is no different.”
The Mavericks failed to work through it Friday as the Warriors took a lead on the first possession of the fourth quarter, scored 43 points in the period and never trailed again
But don’t expect Kidd’s philosophy to change with the Mavericks in must-win territory entering Game 3 Sunday and Game 4 Tuesday in American Airlines Center.
“He’s always been able to basically tell us to make adjustments on our own,” Jalen Brunson said. “He obviously helps us, coaches us, but I think as a team, he gives us an opportunity to figure out what we’re doing. So it’s definitely helped. It’s got us this far. We’ve just got to continue to trust what we do.”
