--F Brandon Bass never complains. He just works harder than the day before. If the Mavs have any desire to include Brandon Bass in a trade, the 6-foot-8 reserve forward is showcasing himself quite well.

Bass has increased his minutes to more than 19 a game and he continues to increase his trips to the free throw line with 26 in the past five games. He had 16 points and 11 rebounds Wednesday against Golden State.

"He's a work in progress. As well as he's played, he's got a long way to go before he reaches his peak," Rick Carlisle said. "That's my feeling about it. Brandon has made strides. He's one of our best workers. He should continue to move upward in his development."

--C Erick Dampier used to be relegated to bench duty against undersized, up-tempo teams like the Warriors. Not this time. Dampier played a huge role with his fourth double-double of the season (10 points, 11 rebounds).

He had eight points and two massive dunks off offensive rebounds in the first quarter to set the early tone.

"We came out and started quick," the plodding, 6-foot-11 Dampier said. "We want to build on each win each and every night. These games are going to count down the stretch and we can't keep giving away games."

--F Josh Howard has had his troubles this season with injuries and there's plenty of doubters on the outside who expect him to be traded away before the Feb. 19 deadline. Howard says he isn't listening to any of it.

"We're a team that's going to stick together and fight and we just got to keep working at it in the gym," Howard said.

Howard finished his fifth consecutive game of logging at least 30 minutes and his fourth in a row with 18 or more points. He had 19 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's win over Golden State.

MEDICAL WATCH:

--G-F Jerry Stackhouse (right heel) is out indefinitely.