Jason Kidd unveils intriguing blueprint for Mavericks to escape continuous struggle

Heading into this evening's matchup against the Orlando Magic, the Dallas Mavericks are 3-2 and in fifth place in the Western Conference. The team enters tonight coming off a loss to the Houston Rockets on Halloween night, and their Achilles heel that revealed itself earlier in the season was vulnerable once again.

Dallas got off to a slow start, and they trailed by 13 points at the end of the first quarter. They have struggled to have any rhythm to begin these games, and that starts with superstar Luka Doncic.

Doncic owned up to his struggles early on in games, and he knows he has to be better, and so does Jason Kidd. Kidd was asked about how the Mavs can avoid getting out to these slow starts during his pregame press conference, and he may just have the recipe to starting off hot moving forward, and playing with more pace.

Kidd's plan for faster starts: Less fouls, better defense, and rebounding

Kidd emphasized that Dallas has to limit fouls, play solid defense, and pull defensive rebounds in order to be able to play faster, and all of these things will help the Mavs start stronger if they can put it all together. Kidd also said that "the pace has to pick up if we want any success.”

The Mavs are 29th in the NBA in first-quarter points per game, and this number must rise for them to become an elite contender in the Western Conference. Dallas falling into these early holes has been detrimental early on even though they have only lost two games, and despite Doncic typically dominating the first quarter in years past, that has not been the case this year.

Doncic is averaging 5.8 points per game in the first quarter while shooting 29 percent from the field and 9.1 percent from three, and he hasn't been able to consistently give Dallas the dominant starts that fans are used to seeing from him. He has always been someone who likes to set the tone early on in games, but his shooting slump has prevented him from doing that. It also doesn't help that he has tended to force some shots early on in these games even when things aren't going his way, and that has not hurt himself, but those around him as well.

His assist per game numbers in the first quarter alone is down to 1.8 assists, and that is a huge regression from the 2.8 assists per game that Doncic averaged in the first quarter per game last season. It's important to remember that Doncic is still getting his legs under him after missing the preseason with a calf contusion, but he still has to be better in these situations early on in games.

Him getting others involved early will help open up the game for everyone, and it'll help him get back to being the conductor of the first quarter and set Dallas up for early-game success.

"In the past, we’ve looked at Luka owning the first quarter, but as a team, we are not owning the first quarter," Kidd said. "Looking at getting a rhythm. I think the positive energy, being able to get out and run, get some easy baskets, and then not giving up offensive rebounds."

Kidd, Doncic, and the Mavs emphasizing starting the game faster and picking up the pace will put them in a much better spot offensively to compete early on and put the other team on their heels, and this will help Doncic efficiently be a better game manager.

The only player outside of Dallas' big three who has made a three in the first quarter of a game this year is Quentin Grimes, and Doncic looking to get his teammates involved early is crucial. Klay Thompson can be a huge help in this department, and Doncic just has to find him.