Johnson sees improvement

A winning streak tends to brighten up the mood. The Mavs are working on a run of three consecutive blowouts going into tonight’s clash with Indiana at American Airlines Center.

One of the key points for Avery Johnson in the next few games is getting Tyronn Lue up to speed as Jason Kidd’s backup. Overall, Johnson sees improvement.

“We’ve been really focused,” he said earlier today. “Some areas of our game, no matter who we’re playing against, are slightly improving. We’re still not there yet. In practices and shootarounds and games, we’re still making some mistakes.

“Now we’re trying to get Lue up to speed. Lue is kind of where Kidd was when he first got here. Now Kidd obviously is much further along in what we’re trying to do. Now we’re trying to get Lue going. It’s taking some time.

“We watched some video this morning from our last game, some areas that we can improve in with pick-and-roll defense, transition defense, just trying to get everybody on the same page.”

What sticks out for Johnson on film?

“I like the way we’re passing the basketball,” he said. “I really see that our passing has really become contagious. We’re moving the ball. On the break, Josh is finding Damp and Damp is throwing it to Dirk, and the ball is really moving.

“Sometimes we tend to overpass, which is a good problem to have. I like the way we’re physical and big, and we have a lot of size in the backcourt now, and we can rebound from every position with our starters.”