It's time to admit the truth, Jason Kidd can flat-out shoot the 3.

I keep wiping my eyes, but the shots keep going down, and at critical moments. Is there anything more suprising about Kidd's game since he joined the Mavs in February 2008 than his penchant for punching the 3-ball?

As of this very moment, Kidd, at 44.4 percent, is by far the Mavericks' best deep threat. He's made an astounding 44-of-99 from beyond the arc, that's 10 fewer attempts and five more makes than Jason Terry. I mean sign this guy up for the 3-point shootout at All-Star weekend at the AAC.

"His shot making has been real key for us in a lot of these recent games," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said.

No kidding. This is crazy stuff. Kidd has transformed his game and probably extended his career. Anyone who's seen him try to finish at the rim, knows he just doesn't have the hops anymore, and he really can't beat his man off the dribble anymore either (he's making just 41.2 percent of his total shots from the floor). So Kidd is often walking the ball into the frontcourt, handing it off and positioning himself behind the arc (wasn't former coach Avery Johnson chastised for trying to turn Kidd into a 3-point shooter?).

Even at his current rate of ripping the net, he's still mostly going unguarded, shooting wide-open 3s (and just think what his percentage would be if he could keep his big toe behind the arc). Teams must still must think he'll revert back to the mediocre 3-ball shooter he's been throughout his career, that is before starting his second stint with the Mavs. Just look at the numbers:

*In those 13 previous seasons, Kidd never reached 40 percent for a season, not even close really. His best was 36.9 percent in 1996-97 when he split the season between Dallas and Phoenix.

*He shot 29.7 percent in 2000-01, 32.1 percent in 2003-04 and 34.3 percent in 2006-07.

*In 51 games with New Jersey in 2007-08, Kidd shot 35.6 percent. Yet, in 29 games with the Mavs, he blew up to 46.1 percent.

*Last season, he finished at a career-high 40.6, and he's obviously improved on that this season.

"He works on it a lot," Carlisle said of Kidd and his 3-point jumper. "If you looked at his career stats, I think you’d see that it is steadily trending up over the long-term, but he spends a lot of time working on his 3s and 2s. He shot 41 [percent] last year so it shouldn’t be a surprise he’s shooting it well again."

Well, it is.