There’s a guard down in Dallas that teams may have to start preparing for, and it’s not the obvious guard (Jason Kidd) you may be thinking of.

Thanks to his go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute of Dallas’ previous game that sank the Clippers, Jose Juan Barea, or J.J. for short, has earned a spot in the Mavs’ starting lineup. Riding a wave of confidence since then, the 5-foot-11 Barea finished with a season-best 18 points in the Mavs’ 112-97 win Thursday over the Suns.

“He’s fearless,” said Dirk Nowitzki, who scored a team-high 39 points against Phoenix. “He’s small, but for some reason he’s a great finisher in there. He gets to the seams. I just really like that he’s in attack mode.”

A Kidd-Barea starting backcourt might be the jumpstart the Mavs need while they wait for injured small forward Josh Howard to return. But Dallas’ opponents won’t have too much room for error with sharpshooting Jason Terry coming right behind them off the bench with instant offense.

(nba.com)

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