He averaged 18.8 points and shot 49 percent for the series. His 25-point effort in Game 1 put the Spurs on their heels for the entire series.

*Erick Dampier never followed through on his pledge to flatten Tony Parker. He didn't have to.

Just giving that impression supplied the Mavericks with an emotional edge that lasted the entire series. It didn't hurt that Dampier had probably the best playoff series of his career. The numbers might not suggest it (8.2 points, 8.2 rebounds), but he was a huge force in the paint and had double-doubles in the first and close-out games.

*Jason Kidd had perhaps the most impressive number of the series: three.

That's how many turnovers he had in five games. Tony Parker had seven in Game 5 alone and 21 for the series.

"I can't say enough about what Jason Kidd means to this team," said Jason Terry. "If you can't rally around a guy like that - a veteran, a leader, a hall of famer - and play hard for him, then you don't belong in this league."

*Rick Carlisle seemed to push all the right buttons and had the Mavericks a step ahead of the Spurs throughout the series.

He called timeouts when they needed to be called, and the Mavericks always seemed to run a productive play when play resumed.

The game plan was spot-on.

*J.J. Barea and Brandon Bass anchored the bench as Terry was suffocated by the Spurs' defense until Game 5.

Barea blinded the Spurs with his speed, and the way he and Bass teamed for 27 points in Game 1 foiled the Spurs' defensive strategy against Dirk Nowitzki and Terry.

DMN