Preseason gets job done

Avery Johnson didn’t have much to complain about at the end of preseason. Sure, he could have done without the injuries to Erick Dampier, Devean George and DJ Mbenga. Johnson did, though, get newcomers Eddie Jones, Trenton Hassell and Brandon Bass a crash course in Mavs basketball and the trio has acclimated nicely.

Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Devin Harris look to be in regular season form. Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse were in cruise control, which is understandable for vets. The two new assistants also seem to fit in well. Paul Westphal exudes a relaxed vibe with an eye for offense. Mario Elie has that fire that rubs off on players.

“I can’t really say anything I haven’t liked,” Johnson said of the preseason. “We’ve gotten after it in practice and we’ve tried to manage these games as much as we can. We’ve got guys some playing time and I thought that Dirk has been strong the whole preseason for the most part and when we wanted to play a game or two in the preseason, I thought we looked pretty good.”

The Mavs finished 5-3 in their exhibitions, winning their last three games. The games start to count for real Wednesday at Cleveland.