The first thing everyone wanted to talk about was the fact that the Magic and Mavs combined to shoot 92 free throws in a game that ultimately took two hours and forty minutes to play. Mavs forward Kris Humphries joked that his . . .um . . .rump . . .got sore from sitting for so long. He did add that the Mavericks' bench is extremely comfortable.

In truth, Humphries was one of the guys who really stood out for the Mavericks. He's one of the newcomers who everyone pointed to as playing extremely well in preseason, and he was effective tonight, recording 10 points on 3-5 shooting. He was one of the few Mavs who actually shot better than 50% from the field in a night that was defined by sloppy play and missed shots . . .in other words, it was the first game of preseason.

Dirk Nowitzki spent most of his 29 minutes at the foul line, where he connected on 17 of 19 attempts, though he managed to hit just 3-12 from the field. He did a nice job of attacking the rim when the jumpers weren't falling, and was a big part of the reason Dwight Howard fouled out mid-way through the third quarter. Erick Dampier had long since fouled out, as well, though Dwight's 9-17 performance from the foul line didn't hurt the Mavs too much.

"Well, 92 free throws in a game," said Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy, with a sigh. " I thought free throws were big at both ends. For us, we couldn't defend them off the dribble without fouling. That's obviously a concern. Then we couldn't make free throws, so another concern. So I thought that was a big issue. We're going to have to get better defending off the dribble. When you send Nowitzki to the line 19 times that's not very good. I thought both teams played pretty hard but it was obviously sloppy, a typical first exhibition game."

The universal feeling from both head coaches and their players was that they're glad to get the first one over with, and they have a long way still to go before the games start to count.

"I thought we played a little too frenetically to start the game," said Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle. "We couldn't really get into a rhythm offensively, had some turnovers and stuff. I thought we scrambled defensively and gave a very good effort. They have some guys that are hard to guard. Some good things, some things we need to work on. We have to get in tomorrow and get back to work."

Van Gundy wasn't particularly pleased with his second unit in the first half, saying he thought guys like Brandon Bass and Jason Williams were trying too hard to make a good first impression, but they settled down in the second half and that was what he was looking for. He also wasn't happy with Vince Carter's willingness to settle for threes, going 3-12 from the field, but admitted that it's a tendency guards tend to fall back on as they get older, rather than taking a beating by driving to the hole. Van Gundy was most pleased with what he saw from Matt Barnes, who had 16 points and four rebounds off the bench, shooting 4-6 from the field. Van Gundy said he's confident the right decisions will be made when Barnes has the ball.

Shawn Marion did not dress tonight due to a minor calf injury. He went through shootaround, but it was a little tight, so Carlisle decided to err on the side of caution. Carlisle was most pleased with the play of Drew Gooden, who scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes of action. JJ Barea was also sharp, scoring 17 points off the bench.

That's it from Dallas, where the most we can say is that the first game of preseason is in the books - both teams hope for much better play next time out.

Expect Jason Terry to see significant minutes tonight, and probably start in Josh's place (update: Matt Carroll started at the two tonight - Quinton Ross also starts, rather than Marion). It's never a sure thing, as Carlisle is notoriously tight-lipped about his starting lineups. He wouldn't even say that Erick Dampier is the starter against Dwight Howard, though he would seem to be the obvious choice. Small ball will work in a lot of situations, but facing the league's most dominant center is not one of those situations.

More than anything, Carlisle is glad the Mavs will be playing against someone else, rather than just practicing against each other.

"It's time. In training camp you compete hard and you're grinding against the same guys every day. When the first exhibition game comes it's usually a good thing. (Orlando's) a great test for us. They're a great team, obviously. They've made some changes, but they should miss a beat from what I see on paper. They've got a dominant inside guy, they've got a lot of guys who can shoot threes, and so they've always going to be tough to play."

The gameplan will change throughout the course of the evening, of course, but the overall gameplan defensively is to deny Dwight Howard the ball and chase the shooters off the three-point line. They'll concede some mid-range shots, but want to try and keep the Magic from getting it going from behind the arch. Carlisle pointed out that the Magic attempted the most threes and the fewest twos in the NBA last season . . .which won't surprise anyone in Orlando.

The jury is still out as to whether or not it was smart for the Magic to let Hedo Turkoglu walk away, essentially replacing him with Vince Carter, but Carlisle expects Carter to make an already-tough Magic team even tougher.

"Carter's a great player. He can play the two or the three and I think he's going to fit in extremely well. His offseason home is in Orlando, too, so I'm sure he's excited about that. It's going to be a challenge playing against him; it always is. He's one of the best one-on-one players in the league, he's one of the best playmakers in the league, even from the wing position, and in the game he creates good looks for himself and great looks for his teammates, so it's a good pick-up for them."

On the Magic side, tonight's game is a homecoming of sorts for Brandon Bass, who made a name for himself with the Mavs after riding the bench in New Orleans for two seasons.

"It's kind of weird," says Bass. "Dallas was home for two years, so it's a little awkward, but it is what it is. Both teams made good business decisions, and I'm excited to get started with the Magic. ... It's a blessing for me. You play this game to one day win the championship, and this team was so close last year that hopefully we can get back to that point this year."

The other Orlando connection, of course, is back-up center Marcin Gortat, whom the Mavericks signed to an offer sheet that was ultimately matched by the Magic.

"It was really crazy," Gortat says of his restricted free agency. "There was a lot of stuff going down and obviously it was a huge opportunity for me to play in Dallas. But even when I signed with Dallas I had a strange feeling that I was going to stay in Orlando. ... I do think it was a surprise because it's not normal for people to match that kind of money for a guy who plays ten minutes a game and who is still going to be a back-up. So it was a surprise."

Tonight is the first preseason game for both teams, so we'll get a chance to see Shawn Marion and Vince Carter, especially, suit up for their new squads. Don't expect the starters to see too many minutes, but when they're out there it should give us a feel for how both teams are going to look early in the new season.