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Josh Howard

How much do you need these next few days to let your ankle rest.

Yeah, I need like a a whole year maybe.  These next couple of days are going to be important for me.  Treatment, treatment, treatment is what I'm going to live by.

How hard has it been to play on that ankle.

It's been tough, but times like this you've got to put it behind you.  Playoffs are a special part of the year in the NBA. Guys play hurt.  A lot fo these guys are injured.  Just got to keep fighting.

How big were the role players for you in this series?

Very big.  Bass, JJ, Antoine, all those guys had a major part in this series.

Could you have won it without them?

I don't think so.  Ti's a total team effort.  Guys gotta be ready when they get in.  Or guys stepped up.

If it is Denver, will that be tougher matchup than San Antonio?

I think all the matchups are tough.  Just have to be ready,  they have guys up there like 'Melo and Chauncey, so you know you have to be ready for those guys.

You say that with a smile, would you like to play them?

Yeah, it's going to be a challenge.  Either way, it's going to be  a challenge.

Erick Dampier

You were one of the guys who has been here since the last time the Mavs won a playoff series.  It had to feel great for you guys.

Oh, it feels great.  We went out there and did a good job on those guys defensively, hit shots when we needed to, got to the free throw line when we needed to.  It was just an all around good defensive job.  We had guys put the ball in the basket and guys were hitting shots.  When we do that we are a pretty hard team to beat.

Where would you be without this teams role players?

We knew they were going to try and take Dirk and JET out of the game, so it was up to Dirk to make the open passes to guys to knock down shots.  He did a good job to make passes to me around the basket and made it easy for me to catch and dunk.  We just made them pay for their defensive mistakes, and he showed he's an all-around good player.

You coach said you guys are becoming a dangerous team.  Do you feel like that?

We know we have a good team.  Teams are looking at us now.  Even though we are a sixth seed, we are much better than that.  We just go out there and play hard.  I thin playing hard makes up a for a lot mistakes we make while we are out there on the floor.  When we've got shots going in, guys are getting to the free throw line and knocking down foul shots we are a totally different team.  We're playing playoff basketball right now and it's up to us to continue that.

Do you allow yourself to think about which team you match up better against.

It doesn't matter.  Both of those guys were tough throughout the season.  Denver has a good team, I think we were 3-1 against them.  It will be interesting to see who is going to come out of that series.  We'll go out there, give it a good fight, and see what happens.