Kidd has 100th triple-double as Mavs top Hornets 111-98

[April 17, 2008]  DALLAS (AP) -- Jason Kidd had the 100th triple-double of his career and sparked a 30-8 stretch that sent the Dallas Mavericks past the New Orleans Hornets, 111-98 Wednesday night, and set up a first-round showdown between these teams.

Kidd had 27 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his first triple-double since rejoining the Mavericks, the team he was with when he broke into the NBA and began piling up the stats. He already was No. 3 on the career list, behind Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson, but now he has joined them in triple-figure, triple-doubles.

New Orleans came in locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, but Dallas -- which was coming off consecutive losses to lottery-bound teams -- needed a victory to clinch the seventh seed. A loss by the Mavericks and a win by Denver later Wednesday would've meant a first-round series between the Hornets and Nuggets, with Dallas facing the Los Angeles Lakers.

New Orleans coach Byron Scott could've gone with reserves for most of the game, or even most of the second half, especially after his starters took a 50-48 lead into halftime. Instead, he decided to try avoiding Dallas, even if that meant the chance of losing to a team his young club is about to face for much higher stakes.

It seemed like a good idea when Chris Paul and David West upped the lead to 70-59.

But then came the 10-minute spurt that both teams will be thinking about until Game 1.

Dallas tied it at 76, then went ahead on a violent dunk by Brandon Bass that turned into a three-point play. West quickly answered with a jumper, but then the Mavericks ran off 12 straight points.

Dallas came out of the run leading 91-78. Kidd and Jason Terry each scored 10 points along the way.

The Hornets got to 100-96 on a driving layup by West with 2:43 left, but Terry hit a jumper, then Bass blocked West. Josh Howard hit a 3-pointer and the Mavericks pulled away one last time.

Kidd got his 10th assists on Howard's 3, then snatched the next available rebound. Fans who'd been watching the scoreboard cheered right away. The official announcement came soon after, drawing even louder applause.

Terry finished with 30 points, one shy of his season high. He did it coming off the bench again as Jerry Stackhouse returned to the starting lineup after missing nine games with a groin injury.

Dirk Nowitzki shot just 4-of-16 and had 12 points. Howard scored 19 and Bass had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Kidd shot 9-of-14, hitting 5-of-8 on 3-pointers.

West scored 26 points and Paul had 20 points and 10 assists. Peja Stojakovic scored 17 and Bonzi Wells had 16 for New Orleans, which ends the season having lost three of four and four of five.

More importantly, the Hornets were 2-2 against the Mavs this season. They beat Dallas in New Orleans in Kidd's first game since being traded from New Jersey.

Notes: This was Kidd's 13th triple-double of the year, his most in any season. ... Robertson had 181 career triple-doubles. Johnson had 138. ... Kidd had 13 triple-doubles his first time around in Dallas. ... The Mavs went 16-13 after Kidd arrived. They were 35-18 before.

[Associated Press; By JAIME ARON]

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