"Both teams were under 100; It was 90's basketball at its best" - Jason Kidd compared the Dallas-Clippers' second game to the "old times"

With the incredible skill level of NBA players today, it's unsurprising how every team in the NBA averaged over 100 points this season. However, Game 2 of the first-round series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers featured something different: a game that ended with neither team reaching the century mark.

As the final buzzer sounded on the Mavericks' 96-93 victory, which tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1, Dallas coach Jason Kidd was astonished to see a low-scoring ballgame. He said it reminded him of how things were when he was still playing.

Intense and physical basketball

J-Kidd debuted in the pros in 1994 for the Mavs. However, it wasn't until he moved to the Phoenix Suns that he finally got a taste of what playoff basketball is like. There, the Hall of Famer saw how the game slowed to a crawl in what could be considered a war of attrition. Every possession mattered, and every point was hard-earned.

During the postgame presser, Kidd shared how Game 2 reminded him of 90s playoff basketball.

"We played 48 minutes of physical basketball. Both teams were under 100. It was '90s basketball at its best," Kidd said .

Dallas made only 42.1 percent of their shots, with both teams playing physical defense. Meanwhile, the Clippers, who welcomed back two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard to the lineup, shot a mere 36.7 percent from the field.

The cream rose to the top

The playoffs are a platform for the league's finest players to shine the brightest. And Game 2 of the Mavericks-Clippers series showed just that. Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving came up with clutch triples to help the Mavs overhaul a 73-67 deficit and take an 84-76 lead late in the fourth.

Doncic finished with 32 points, nine assists, and six rebounds, while Irving had 22 points, six boards, three assists, and three steals. Although Luka and Kyrie got most of the spotlight, the shifty point guard deflected the credit back to his teammates for stepping up in Game 2.

"Teams win championships, teams win games, so it's all about us doing the right things and continuing to positively encourage one another," Irving said after the game. "I mean, we know what the percentages are; you go down 0-2 in any series, it's gonna be tough to come back. So we just wanted to focus in on tonight's game and head back to our Dallas home court and be able to play in front of our fans with a game on our belt."

The series has now moved to Dallas, and we'll see if the star power will turn Game 3 into an offensive frenzy or if we're in for a grueling, low-scoring series.

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