Luka Doncic Minutes? Mavs Coach Jason Kidd Reveals Playoffs Prep Plan

"We want to get some of the minutes down,'' Kidd says.

DALLAS - Amid MFFL's chants of "MVP!, MVP!,'' Luka Doncic did it again on Monday, returning from a one-game injury absence to lead his Dallas Mavs to a 111-103 home win over the Utah Jazz.

The "MVP!'' chants for Luka were notable.

So is coach Jason Kidd's newly-unveiled plan for the All-Star point guard as Dallas approaches the end of the NBA regular season and then the playoffs.

"We want to get some of the minutes down,'' Kidd said.

© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

That's not only about Doncic, who was coming off a brief layoff due to a toe injury and dropped a game-high 35 points to go along with 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and a block against the No. 4-seeded Jazz — a Dallas performance that pulls Kidd's fifth-seed club to within a half-game of Utah.

“What is it, 18, 17 games left?” said Kidd, evaluating the load on his 40-25 team. “It’s getting the rotations down. And we’d like to get more guys involved here, (like backups) Sterling (Brown) and Trey (Burke). ...We’ve been running the minutes for those eight to nine guys that we have been playing. So we want to get everybody involved and get some of the minutes down for Luka and Reggie (Bullock). We’re playing Reggie over 40 minutes a night. ...

And the Mavs are playing Doncic, who just turned 23, at a career-high 35.6 minutes per game.

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

"Minutes limits?” It's probably not going to be that strict or that structured. Rather, Kidd is simply likely to stay acutely aware of how the minutes pile up for his heavy-lifters, trying to balance both an important climb in the West standings and a full readiness once Dallas hits the postseason.

Rest and health? Key. But also key: Just four games separate the second-place Warriors from the surging Mavs. How to juggle it all?

"Those are the things I’m looking at,'' Kidd said.

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