For Jason Kidd and his NBA journey against the Oklahoma City Thunder, this is a bit of a déjà vu scenario.
In 2011 when Kidd was the starting point guard for the Dallas Mavericks, he faced a Thunder squad in the Western Conference Finals that featured a group of 22-year olds named Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. The Mavs won that series in five games, then went on to beat the Miami Heat in six games to capture their lone NBA title.
This time around, the Mavs will be squaring off against OKC in the Western Conference semifinals. And this Thunder team is built around 25-year-old point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, rookie forward Chet Holmgren (22), forward Jalen Williams (23) guard Lu Dort (25) and forward Josh Giddy (21).
Thus, the similarities of OKC 2011 to OKC of today are startling.
“That (OKC) group was young in 2011,” Kidd said. “They were good, too. And they were well-coached with Scottie (Brooks). Again, there are some similarities when you look at that. That was a big team, too.
“When you look at this team with Oklahoma City, they have a bunch of smalls and mediums who can flat-out score the ball. We have to do a good job of guarding on-ball. They’re one of the best teams of being able to get in the gaps and get to the rim, so we’ve got to protect the rim and the paint.”
The average age of this year’s OKC team is 23.9 years old. That makes them the youngest squad in NBA history to secure the No. 1 seed, which they did when they topped the Western Conference with an impressive 57-25 record.
“They’re young on paper, but they have the Coach of the Year (in Mark Daigneault),” Kidd said. “Mark’s done an incredible job with that group.
“You look at Shai – MVP candidate – he could easily win MVP. Dort has been in the league. They’ve been together as a group.”
Holmgren was actually drafted No. 2 overall by OKC in 2022 following a one-and-done season at Gonzaga. But he missed what would have been his rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury to his right foot which occurred during a Pro-Am game in Seattle while he was trying to defend LeBron James on a fast break.
“They play hard,” Kidd said. “They play extremely well at home. On paper they’re young. But they had the best record in the West.
“It’s not about age. It’s about being able to execute, and hopefully we can do that on the road.”
THE SKINNY ON MAVS-OKC: The Thunder had a 3-1 record against the Mavs this season. But here’s the skinny.
Mavs guards Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving only played in one of those four games together. And the Mavs blew out the Thunder in that contest, 146-111, on Feb. 10, with Dončić and Irving combining for 57 points, 14 rebounds and 17 assists.
“That’s just a regular season game,” coach Jason Kidd said. “The playoffs are a little bit different.”
OKC beat the Mavs in Dallas, 126-120, on Dec. 2. Tim Hardaway Jr. (back spasms) and Irving (foot) missed that game.
The Thunder also won two games against the Mavs in OKC. On March 14 while the Mavs were on the second night of a back-to-back, the Thunder defeated Dallas, 126-119, in a game Dončić missed due to a sore left hamstring.
And on the final game of the regular season when the Mavs were resting their regular rotation players, the Thunder defeated Dallas, 135-86.
That 35-point blowout win for the Mavs was particularly significant because that was their first game following the two trades on Feb. 8 that netted them center Daniel Gafford and forward P.J. Washington.
“Having everyone right after the trade deadline with making (the trades), and having Kai and Luka play for the first time against OKC, we can look at some of the things that we had success with,” Kidd said. “And hopefully we can do that again on Tuesday.”
OKC CONNECTION FOR LIVELY: This playoff series against Oklahoma City amounts to a full circle moment for Mavs rookie center Dereck Lively II.
After all, the Thunder used the No. 12 overall pick of last summer’s NBA Draft to select Lively after his one season at Duke. Lively was subsequently traded to the Mavs on draft night for Richardson’s Cason Wallace, who the Mavs drafted No. 10 overall after he was a one-and-done out of Kentucky.
“Both teams got what they needed,” Lively said. “Dallas got a big, OKC got a great defender and a great guard.
“We know that Cason is a great player, Cason knows I’m a great player, and we have a lot of respect for one another. So, it’s going to be able to just see who can go out there and do the most and do the best little things so that they can affect the game.”
Lively has been a major contributor for the Mavs this season while averaging 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. While battling multiple injuries this season, Lively played in 55 games — he started 42 games – and shot an amazing 74.7 percent from the field in 23.5 minutes per contest.
Wallace, meanwhile, averaged 6.8 points in 20.6 minutes while playing in all 82 games for OKC – he started 13 games. Wallace also shot 49.1 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from beyond the three-point line.
BRIEFLY: Except for the two days off between Games 5 and 6 in this series against OKC, there’s only one day off between all of the other games. That could bode well for the Mavs, since the flight from Dallas to Oklahoma City is approximately just 30 minutes. “The commute is easier,” Kidd said. “We’re playing late games – except Saturday. It’s good that we don’t have to travel to LA. We’re happy that we’re not playing (Game 7 against the Los Angeles Clippers) today in LA. The travel (to OKC) is good, but we’re playing the best team in the Western Conference, so this is a great challenge for us.” . . . OKC hasn’t played since Monday when they finished a four-game sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans with a 97-89 victory on the road. The Mavs, meanwhile, will have three non-game days between clinching their series Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers in six games and the start of the OKC series on Tuesday. In the meantime, it’s always a battle among coaches and players on whether they would rather have a lot of rest between the end of one series and the start of another series and run the risk of being rusty, or if they would rather jump right into a new series after finishing one series. “When we get rest, we’re terrible,” Kidd said with a laugh. “We’ve seen that with the All-Star break and at the end of the season. Hopefully, this (three days are) enough rest for those guys. Sometimes there could be a little rust early, but at this point in the season the more rest that you can get – because guys are playing heavy minutes – the better it is.” After the All-Star break when they had seven days off, the Mavs went 2-5 in their first seven games. Also, after the Mavs clinched the Southwest Division title on April 10 with a win in Miami, they basically rested their regulars during the final two games of the regular season against Detroit and Oklahoma City. And when all of the Mavs convened for the playoff opener – after 10 days off – the Mavs fell behind by 31 points against the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1 and lost, 109-97.
X: @DwainPrice