"Jason Kidd dipped into the Fountain of Youth on Saturday night and proved that he can still bring it when he has to.

Kidd took a step back in time and scored 24 points as the Dallas Mavericks opened the playoffs with a bruising 89-81 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. Kidd was 9 of 14 from the field, including a playoff career-high 6 of 10 from 3-point range.

The day after Kidd carved up the defensive-minded Blazers at age 38, others wondered what he ate for his pregame meal and whether he got any bonus points on his AARP card.

Even Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge joined in. When asked if Portland saw Kidd's breakout performance coming, Aldridge said: "I don't know if he saw that coming."

Told of Aldridge's comments, Kidd said: "That's a good point. That's a fair comment.

"I wasn't on the map. I think Dirk [Nowitzki] said it best -- they didn't have me penciled in for 24 points."

Kidd, though, knew he had to be an offensive force on a night when the Mavs shot 40.9 percent from the field. Nowitzki led Dallas with 28 points, but had only 10 through three quarters.

"I just felt I needed to be aggressive coming out," Kidd said Sunday. "In this series I felt that I needed to look at the basket a little bit more.

"No matter if Jet [Jason Terry] or Dirk was struggling, other guys have to pick it up because during the playoffs they're going to make it tough on your guys who do score. And there's always that third factor that you need somebody to step up, and I wanted to be that guy [Saturday] night."

Kidd's output was his best since he scored 24 on April 3, 2010, against Oklahoma City. That's what made his game against the Blazers so impressive."