"Jason Kidd climbed a steep staircase that leads from the Dallas Mavericks' practice court to the training room just as the doors swung open to reporters Sunday afternoon, slithering away from a horde of media with the same precision he swished three-pointers the night before.

But, revealing more success than the Trail Blazers' soft perimeter defense had Saturday night, the Mavericks public relations department coaxed Kidd out of the training room and 20 minutes later he begrudgingly sauntered down the stairs to face the microphones.

"They forced me," Kidd said, smiling.

How could they not? With the Blazers scheming to do everything possible to slow down Dirk Nowitzki, the future Hall of Fame point guard had a throwback performance Saturday night, sinking six three-pointers and finishing with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Mavericks defeated the Blazers 89-81 in their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series

The Blazers were burned last season by wily veteran Grant Hill, whose big Game 2 performance and defense on Andre Miller proved to be the difference in the Phoenix Suns' first-round victory. It was deja vu all over again in Game 1 against the Mavericks, as Kidd hit important threes early and swished a dagger three in the closing seconds to ice the game.

"He's one of the greatest players of all time," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "And he's still great."

And the Blazers found out in the most painful of ways as the 38-year-old recorded the most playoff three-pointers of his career and scored his most postseason points since May 1, 2005, when he finished with 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds against the Miami Heat.

The performance was a stunner, in part because Kidd was awful against the Blazers in the regular season, especially in the final two meetings when he missed all seven of his field goal attempts and scored just one point in two Blazers wins.

Best known as one of the NBA's best distributors -- he ranks second on the all-time assist list -- Kidd said he anticipated that he would have to alter his game going into in Game 1 because he figured the Blazers would scheme to stop Nowitzki, leaving him with a healthy dose of open looks. Sure enough, Andre Miller routinely left the perimeter to provide help on Nowitzki and other penetrating Mavericks in the lane."