"Nine days ago, the Mavericks had double reason to be concerned when, during a 93-71 blowout loss in San Antonio, point guard Jason Kidd sustained a lower back injury.

But Dallas went 4-0 during Kidd's absence, including Friday's home victory over Milwaukee. Kidd participated in Friday morning's shootaround, and coach Rick Carlisle said he expects Kidd to play in Saturday night's home game against Sacramento.

Carlisle credits much of Dallas' strong play during Kidd's absence to improved team defense, rebounding and the individual play of Kidd's replacement, Delonte West."