Kidd leads Mavericks to win in home debut

DALLAS -- Jason Kidd came back to Dallas as a different player -- and to a much better Mavericks team.

Forget the perennial losers that Kidd played for the first two-plus seasons of his career. Or the youngster still trying to figure out the NBA.

In his first home game for Dallas since 1996, and since being traded from New Jersey last week, the point guard had 11 points with nine rebounds and eight assists in a 102-94 victory Monday night over the Chicago Bulls.

After getting a loud rousing ovation when he was the last Mavericks starter introduced, instead of Dirk Nowitzki as usual, Kidd had the fans cheering a minute into the game with an assist on Josh Howard’s three-point basket for the first score that put Dallas ahead to stay.

“I was happy to be back home. This is where it all started for me,” Kidd said. “I didn’t get an opportunity with that franchise [the Mavericks of the mid-1990s] like this one. This is different and I’m going to take advantage of that.”

The Mavericks won their 11th straight home game and are one game back in the Southwest Division behind San Antonio, where they next play Thursday. Dallas is only 1 1/2 games behind the Western Conference-leading Lakers, which it plays Sunday.

Dallas has won three in a row since losing its first game with Kidd.

“He still catches you off guard sometimes. It’s been a lot of fun,” said Nowitzki, who had 29 points and 10 rebounds. “We’ve improved from game to game. If you look at the West, you have to adjust quickly.”

Ben Gordon had 25 points for Chicago.

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