The Monday Morning Roundup

David Moore has an article on Dampier's job doing the unnoticed dirty work in this series.

Devoting only one body to Duncan leaves the Mavericks an extra defender to throw in Tony Parker's way or to stay at home on the Spurs' 3-point shooters. The key is to make him work.

"By the fourth quarter, we just want to wear on him," Dampier said. "Maybe some of those bank shots will be short. Or long."

"People that really know the game know the things I do for this team. I don't have to prove anything to anybody."

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Sefko has an article on the Mavs not celebrating after their game one win.

"We knew we could come out here and get the win," J.J. Barea said. "I'm not going to lie - it was a good feeling. But we still know we've got a long way to go. We've got to beat them three more times. It's not an easy task. We've got to keep our heads and not get too excited."

Derek Harper pointed out the mavs reaction to the win in the postgame show, and said Dallas looked liked a team that had expected to win going in.

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Randy Galloway writes on the Mavs anticipating Pop's game two adjustments.

"But this is Popovich, and he's got something for everything and everybody. He's the best at adjustments. What he does [tonight] is a big guess right now, but Pop doesn't have four trophies for nothing. He's cooking up something." [Terry]

Dirk, like the other Mavericks, is waiting on Pop's Game 2 answer.

"Popovich is obviously one of the greatest at this," he said. "You know what's he thinking when he sees Barea just walk down the lane to the bucket three or four times in the fourth quarter. We'll see something new, for sure."

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Michael Finley on how to stop Barea.

"We just have stay in front of him," Michael Finley said. "It's easier said than done, but we just have to find a way to make him have to make tough shots. If he makes those tough shots, then you just have to tap him on the back and say, 'Good shot.' "

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Want to feel really good about the Mavs right now?  Go read this.

The Celtics have played at a .648 clip over their last 54 games. (35-19).
The Mavs have played at a .662 clip overt their last 74 games. (49-25)

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Over at the San Antonio Express, Mike Monroe has an article on the Spurs needing to slow down the Dallas offense -- particularly Barea.

"The game, whether one wins or loses, is always made up of a variety of factors," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's not one thing, but from our perspective, we need to do a better job. We can't let them score that many points and expect to win. So what really were the factors that got away from us were the 21 points they got on the offensive boards. And a good portion of that was Barea getting into the middle, and that helped (Dampier) be as effective as he was at the rim.

"So those 21 points were not expected."