The 6-8 forward has been the surprise of training camp. Apparently, he shocked Memphis' Zach Randolph, too. Humphries blew past the Grizzlies' forward twice for drives to the basket, including a thunderous two-handed throw-down that lit up the crowd and was the memorable play of the Mavericks' 114-107 win Sunday night at American Airlines Center.

It's becoming routine to see Humphries making quality contributions. He had 16 points and nine rebounds (five offensive) in 21 minutes against Memphis.

"He's been very consistent," coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's got an all-around game and he's physical. He's been playing well since we got him in the trade. ... Look, there's still a long way to go, but he's making a strong case that he's deserving consideration for some playing time."

Humphries is coming off a broken leg that sidelined him most of last season. For that, he was somewhat of an unknown quantity coming into camp.

Not anymore. His rebounding and physical play have served him well.

"He's been multidimensional since we tried to recruit him at Kansas," center Drew Gooden said of the former Minnesota Gopher. "We're on the same page, especially when that ball goes up. We're like two football players trying to get offensive rebounds."

Indeed, Gooden and Humphries combined for eight of the Mavericks' 13 offensive boards. Humphries came into camp not knowing what to expect. But he's quickly carving a niche for himself.

He said hard-nosed play is how he hopes to find minutes on the court.

"Everyone wants to play," he said. "That's why you work hard. You got a lot of guys who are thirsty to play. I'm no different. I just want to come in and be a guy who gives energy and runs the floor."

Balancing act: Quinton Ross has averaged 20 minutes per game in his five-year NBA career. He knows doing so with the Mavericks this season won't be easy. Ross, like all players, wants to play as much as he can.

Unlike a lot of players, he knows that coming to a quality team might mean fewer opportunities than when he was with a lottery team like the Grizzlies were last season.

"You always want to play," he said. "But at the same time, you always want to win, too. It was tough last year, but I got an opportunity to play and display my skills. Hopefully, with this Maverick team, I can keep battling and get some minutes."

Briefly: Shawn Marion sat out most of the second half after his calf muscle tightened up. He missed the preseason opener last week with the same injury, but Marion said postgame that it was not serious. ... Carlisle was disappointed in the Mavericks' first-quarter defense. "Defensively, we were horrible to start the game," he said. "I keep talking about defense and our activity is not yielding the kind of results we need." He added that after the first six or eight minutes, the defense improved, citing 26 deflections in the first half.

MEMPHIS 35 15 31 26 - 107

DALLAS 31 25 26 32 - 114

MEMPHIS (107) - D.Carroll 5-8 2-2 13, Arthur 7-13 3-3 17, Thabeet 2-3 1-1 5, Conley 6-12 3-4 17, Mayo 3-11 4-4 10, M.Williams 2-4 0-0 5, Gasol 2-2 2-2 6, Randolph 5-8 3-4 13, Gay 4-11 0-2 8, Young 1-4 0-0 2, Gilder 2-3 0-0 5, Haddadi 1-3 2-2 4, Taylor 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 41-83 20-24 107.

DALLAS (114) - Marion 7-9 1-1 15, Nowitzki 9-14 8-10 26, Dampier 3-3 4-5 10, Kidd 1-4 3-4 5, Ross 2-6 1-1 5, Terry 8-17 3-4 23, Gooden 3-8 2-2 8, Barea 1-6 4-5 6, Humphries 5-10 6-9 16, Beaubois 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-78 32-41 114.

3-point goals - Memphis 5-17 (Conley 2-5, M.Williams 1-1, Gilder 1-1, D.Carroll 1-2, Young 0-1, Gay 0-2, Mayo 0-5), Dallas 4-15 (Terry 4-8, Ross 0-1, Humphries 0-1, Barea 0-2, Kidd 0-3). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Memphis 46 (Gasol 9), Dallas 48 (Humphries 9). Assists - Memphis 27 (Mayo 10), Dallas 23 (Kidd 6). Total fouls - Memphis 32, Dallas 23. Technicals - Dampier. A 18,207 (19,200).