After three games, the Dallas Mavericks are 2-1. The Mavs bounced back from a disappointing weekend loss to the Phoenix Suns with a 110-102 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night, and Dallas’ big three continue to lead the way.

Although PJ Washington had a great first half, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, scoring outside of Dallas’ big three was quite slow early in this game. Especially the goal from the bench.

Dallas’ bench played a decent game on opening night against the San Antonio Spurs, combining for 35 points, but the Phoenix game over the weekend was a different story.

The Mavs bench scored just nine points against the Suns, and those scoring woes from the second unit and beyond played into the early stages of Dallas’ game against Utah on Monday night at American Airlines Center.

Kidd started the game by substituting Spencer Dinwiddie as the sixth man, even though Dinwiddie wasn’t playing against the Suns, and he couldn’t get anything going early. Dinwiddie went scoreless in the first half but got going in the third quarter.

In the third quarter alone, Dinwiddie finished with 11 points while shooting 3-4 from downtown, finally starting to gain some confidence and rhythm. His 3-point jump shot off the dribble looked solid, and he also delivered a great feed to Lively II for a reverse slam.

Dinwiddie’s poor preseason and slow start to the regular season were forgotten after his second-half performance gave the Mavs a win over Utah, and Kidd and the Mavs desperately needed him to step up.

Kidd couldn’t score reliably off the bench in the Phoenix game and the first half of the Utah game, and Dinwiddie managed to overcome his early panic and show how valuable he can be to this team.

Dallas’ bench goal was undoubtedly one of the team’s biggest concerns heading into Monday night’s win, and Dinwiddie’s performance helped ease those concerns a bit.

Although Naji Marshall is making his presence felt on defense, he hasn’t had the full offensive coming out party yet. Marshall has shot 26.6 percent from the field this year and has failed to hit a three-pointer in rhythm. His shots from downtown are largely rushed, and despite a decent performance against Utah in the third quarter, he still feels well integrated into Dallas’ offense.

Kidd stressed that everyone needs to be “patient” when it comes to whether Quentin Grimes and Marshall are fit in Dallas, even comparing their situation to what happened to Kyrie Irving when he was first traded to the Mavs . It took some time for him to get going, and the patience paid off for the Mavs as Irving eventually fit seamlessly alongside Luka Doncic.

Dallas got lucky when it came to how quickly Washington and Daniel Gafford fit in, and Grimes and Marshall will eventually find their place in the Mavs system, it will just take time.

Until then, Kidd will need to continue experimenting with different lineups and combinations until he can score reliably and consistently off the bench. The start of the season is the perfect time for this, and Kidd has plenty of time to determine his daily rotation.

Dinwiddie did a great job of showing Kidd that he could be a consistent scorer and be a spark plug off the bench when needed, and his game against Utah had some echoes of the old Dinwiddie. His throws in the second half of this win over Utah were some of the loudest moments in the game as he helped the Mavs take control of the game.

Dinwiddie is one of the fan favorites on the team considering he had a great stint in Dallas before the current one, and his performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow will be impressive.