Doing a better job the second time around

About nine hours after landing at Love Field, the Mavericks were back on the practice court Sunday morning. It’s not often the team works out after a back-to-back, especially one on the road, but back-to-back losses coupled with limited practice time were reason enough for Avery Johnson to gather the troops for a brisk one-hour session at American Airlines Center.

The Mavs (9-4) were in position against Indiana and Milwaukee, down three points in the last 10 seconds of both games. Dirk Nowitzki didn’t get a chance to tie the Pacers game Friday, as a pass intended for him was deflected away. Jason Terry got that chance Saturday, but his 3-pointer didn’t fall.

Johnson was pleased that Friday’s breakdown was repeated 24 hours later. Even though Terry didn’t make the 3 that would have tied it, the execution down the stretch against Milwaukee was noticeably better. Devin Harris made a read on the previous possession that led to a Terry jumper. After his miss, Terry drilled his last of five four-quarter 3-pointers at the buzzer.

“We thought we got three great looks at the basket, unfortunately only two of them went in, so we got five points and we needed eight,” Johnson said. “Again, that’s stuff that we work on every single day and it’s good to see those guys really having a lot of confidence.”

As for the team’s defense the last two games, Johnson isn’t too happy. The Bucks scored 35 points in the fourth quarter, handing the Mavs their first loss of the season when leading after three periods. Johnson said a 26-point quarter is considered a poor one defensively, and Indiana did that three times.

“We’re not there,” he said. “We’re not good. There are several areas that we’re still just trying to get consistency from.”

Dallas went into Sunday ranked 12th in points allowed (97.15) and 15th in defensive field-goal percentage (44.8). The Mavs have consistently been a top 10 team in both areas under Johnson.

“Sometimes your offense is your best defense, and in the last few games we haven’t had a good start offensively,” Brandon Bass said. “Today was a good practice after a back-to-back to really focus in on some of the things we need to improve.”