The 1994–95 Dallas Mavericks season was the 15th season for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association.

Season summary

Off-season With the hopes of repeating history, the Mavericks brought back original head coach Dick Motta to restore a team that had compiled an awful 24–140 record over the last two years. The Mavericks received the second overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, and selected point guard Jason Kidd from the University of California. Meanwhile, former Sixth Man Roy Tarpley returned after being suspended by the NBA three years ago.

Regular season Under Motta, and with the addition of Kidd to form a new trio along with second-year star Jamal Mashburn, and Jim Jackson, the Mavericks got off to a 12–8 start to the regular season. However, the team soon fell below .500 in winning percentage, posted an eight-game losing streak in January, and later on held an 18–28 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team signed free agent George McCloud, and acquired Scott Brooks from the Houston Rockets. The Mavericks posted a six-game winning streak in March, and finished in fifth place in the Midwest Division with a 36–46 record, which was a 23-game improvement over the previous season, and twelve more wins then their previous two seasons combined. However, the team missed the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

Kidd averaged 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, as he was named the co-NBA Rookie of the Year along with Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons, and was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition, Jackson averaged 25.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, but only played 51 games due to a season-ending ankle injury, while Mashburn provided the team with 24.1 points and 3.7 assists per game, and also led them with 113 three-point field goals, and Tarpley contributed 12.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game off the bench, but only played 55 games due to foot and knee injuries. Meanwhile, second-year forward Popeye Jones averaged 10.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, McCloud contributed 9.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 42 games, second-year guard Lucious Harris contributed 9.5 points per game, Brooks provided with 7.9 points and 3.0 assists per game in 30 games, and defensive center Lorenzo Williams averaged 4.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Kidd was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Green team, while rookie shooting guard, and first-round draft pick Tony Dumas participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Despite stellar seasons, neither Jackson or Mashburn were selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game. Kidd also finished in 13th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Jones finished tied in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting, with Jackson finishing tied in ninth place, and Motta finished in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.

The Mavericks finished 13th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 678,433 at the Reunion Arena during the regular season.

Aftermath Following the season, Doug Smith, who failed to live up to expectations as a top draft pick after four seasons with the Mavericks, was left unprotected in the 1995 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Toronto Raptors expansion team.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 2 Jason Kidd PG California 1 19 Tony Dumas SG Missouri–Kansas City 2 28 Deon Thomas F Illinois

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 26 | January 3, 19957:30p.m. CST | Houston | L 98–110 | Jackson (27) | Tarpley (12) | Kidd (11) | Reunion Arena17,502 | 13–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 27 | January 5, 19957:30p.m. CST | @ Houston | L 99–108 | Jackson (26) | Tarpley (13) | Kidd (8) | The Summit16,611 | 13–14

|- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 53 | February 28, 19957:30p.m. CST | Houston | W 102–101 | Mashburn (22) | Williams (13) | Kidd (7) | Reunion Arena17,502 | 21–32

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 58 | March 11, 19957:30p.m. CST | @ Houston | L 102–109 | Mashburn (33) | Jones (14) | Kidd (7) | The Summit16,611 | 22–36

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 75 | April 11, 19957:30p.m. CDT | @ Houston | W 156–147 (2OT) | Mashburn (42) | Jones (21) | Kidd (10) | The Summit16,431 | 34–41

Player statistics

Ragular season PlayerC82 81 2,383 690 124 52 148 328 29.1 8.4 1.5 .6 1.8 4.0SF 80 80 2,980 331 298 82 8 1,926 37.3 4.1 3.7 1.0 .1 24.1PF 80 80 2,385 844 163 35 27 825 29.8 10.6 2.0 .4 .3 10.3PG 79 79 2,668 430 607 151 24 922 33.8 5.4 7.7 1.9 .3 11.7SG 79 31 1,695 220 132 58 14 751 21.5 2.8 1.7 .7 .2 9.5PF 63 0 826 144 44 29 26 320 13.1 2.3 .7 .5 .4 5.1SG 58 0 613 62 57 13 4 264 10.6 1.1 1.0 .2 .1 4.6C 55 1 1,354 449 58 45 55 691 24.6 8.2 1.1 .8 1.0 12.6C 54 0 633 122 41 10 14 209 11.7 2.3 .8 .2 .3 3.9SG 51 51 1,982 260 191 28 12 1,309 38.9 5.1 3.7 .5 .2 25.7PF 46 2 580 156 10 6 3 140 12.6 3.4 .2 .1 .1 3.0SF 42 3 802 147 53 23 9 402 19.1 3.5 1.3 .5 .2 9.6†PG 38 2 407 39 69 21 1 130 10.7 1.0 1.8 .6 .0 3.4†PG 31 0 622 53 94 26 3 245 20.1 1.7 3.0 .8 .1 7.9

Awards and records Jason Kidd, NBA Rookie of the Year Award Jason Kidd, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References

See also 1994–95 NBA season