Jason Terry excelled in last season’s playoffs when allowed to play shooting guard instead of point guard. Terry is a good shooter and a decent passer. Terry might have some problems defending bigger guards, but he should more than make up for it with his offense. Terry has hit 44.1% of his FG attempts for his career and 38.0% of his 3-pointers. Terry always makes his free-throws (83.9%) which helps his overall game. Terry has averaged 15.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Devean George is going to back-up Terry and he should be good at the job. George was always a complimentary player for the Lakers, but one that helped them win a championship and he could help the Mavs take that step. George does alot of things well without the ball and he always hustles. George has averaged 6.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game for his career.

First round pick Maurice Ager could actually beat out George for the back-up spot. He’s really athletic and will bring energy to the Mavs whenever he gets on the floor.

This could be the season that Devin Harris breaks out big time! In the playoffs, Harris often played with Jason Terry instead of behind him and the results were good. Harris is a great defender and penetrator on offense. Harris will cause serious match-up problems for opposing point guards. Harris only averaged 18.5 minutes per game, but that could easily double this season. Harris is a smart offensive player that takes good shots, as evidenced by his 45.0% success on FGs. Harris averaged 7.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. All of those numbers could easily double for Harris as he gets his shot at big minutes this season.

The Mavericks traded with the Pacers and acquired veteran point guard Anthony Johnson to back-up Harris. Johnson is now 32 years old, but he had probably his best season in the NBA last year. Johnson is a smart player that doesn’t look for his shot first. In 546 games in his career, he only has averaged 5.8 points per game, 1.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists. The Mavericks hope they only need him for 10-15 minutes per game.

Devin Harris is questionable for opening night with an injured hamstring. The Mavs need Harris, because he plays tough defense and is turning into a leader on the court.

Avery Johnson took over as coach when Don Nelson got sick two years ago and made this his team! Johnson led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in his first season as an NBA head coach. Johnson has a career record of 76-24 as the head coach. The players give their all for Johnson every night.

Johnson has a career playoff record of 20-16.