Klay Thompson’s Mavericks minutes decrease receives honest Jason Kidd explanation

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks cruised to a 124-102 victory against the Toronto Raptors on Friday. Anthony Davis had an impressive triple-double, while a number of other Mavs stepped up as well. Klay Thompson, however, only played in just over 18 minutes of action.

Thompson was listed as questionable for the game due to a left foot sprain. He was ultimately made available, however. Did the injury play a role in Thompson’s minutes decrease?

“No,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told reporters after the game. “We’re deep. We got a lot of things that we’re trying to cram in here in 48 minutes with the different lineup combinations. Seeing who can do what. Also that means guys aren’t gonna play 24 or 26 minutes that he has been. When you look at what (Max) Christie was doing, he was going, so that gives the opportunity to Christie to have more minutes where you don’t have to wear Klay out here before Wednesday.”

The Mavericks will play their first NBA Play-In Tournament game on Wednesday. It seems as if Kidd and the Mavs are hoping to keep Thompson as fresh as possible for the play-in clash. However, Kidd did note that Thompson’s minutes decrease was not a product of his foot injury.

Klay ended up finishing the game with seven points on 3-8 shooting from the field and 1-5 shooting from beyond the arc. He added two assists, two steals and one rebound. It certainly was not his best game, but the lack of minutes may have played a role.

The good news is that Klay Thompson features no shortage of postseason experience. One has to imagine that he will be ready to step up for the Mavericks in the play-in tournament.

First, Dallas will play the Grizzlies in Memphis on Sunday afternoon. The Mavs need a victory and a Sacramento Kings loss in order to host the play-in game on Wednesday. Any other result will lead to Dallas having to travel to Sacramento for the No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in contest.