The Dallas Mavericks earned a 120-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. Dallas’ final point total suggests that they had a quality offensive performance, but the team actually started slow on the offensive end of the floor. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd gave credit to Jaden Hardy for helping to lead the team’s scoring outburst as the game progressed.
“I thought Hardy was a big plus for us in that first half,” Kidd said after the game. “I thought he got everybody kind of to settle down because we couldn’t see a three go in the hoop until he started to make some for us… I thought that became contagious. His energy, his play-making as we’ve talked about preseason, his ability to find the open guy, I thought he did that well tonight, too.
“I think he’s comfortable with his role… The sky’s the limit for him in the sense of growing you’ve seen here the last three years… He’s doing everything we’ve asked on both ends, and with the new deal I think he’s comfortable. But I thought he was big there in that first half of being able to get our offense going.”
Hardy recently said that he wants to win the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. He is willing to do whatever he can to help the Mavericks win. Hardy has displayed signs of potential in the past and he is unquestionably a 2024-25 breakout candidate.
Hardy ended up finishing Thursday’s game 11 points on 3-6 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc. He led the way early in the game along with Klay Thompson while the rest of the offense struggled. However, Luka Doncic and the team found their footing in the second half en route to the victory.
Having a player like Jaden Hardy who can come off the bench and immediately make a big impact is pivotal. Hardy will look to have another strong game on Saturday against the Phoenix Suns.
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