[G-Man]

Defense! Defense! Defense!

Jason Kidd won his championship with a team that closed games with 2 mediocre defenders in Dirk and Jason Terry. He knows that even the best defenders will get beat one on one against great, or even good scorers. What matters is how well the defense rotates and how quickly they recover. What matters more is to get those weak defending stars to give maximum effort and buy in.

Every time Kyrie dives for a loose ball or Luka blocks a shot or gets a steal, or just rotates properly, they are energizing the rest of the team. And now that the rest of the team includes 2 centers who guard the paint like a pair of Dobermans, and multiple long armed, quick footed forwards, the D looks rock solid for the first time since 2011.

Kudos to Nico for finding DJJ and Exum on the NBA scrap heat, and for believing that they, Gafford and PJ would thrive here. More Kudos for cutting his losses on players like Grant and Wood, instead of trying to pretend those moves were not mistakes. Two months ago, the rest of the league was talking about how much he'd miss all those picks he traded when the team collapsed, and Luka left in disappointment as soon as he could.

Against the Heat, when the Mavs could not hit a shot and the lead was disappearing, the Mavs held on by getting repeated stops. When is the last time a Mavs fan said "repeated stops" with a straight face?

This is why they say "Defense wins championships." Maybe not this year. But maybe real soon.