The Mavericks didn't feel like they stole Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Their 105-97 victory at AT&T Center wasn't a heist. It was about as thorough a playoff road victory as you can get when the teams are close to evenly matched.

The Mavericks had lost their previous nine playoff road games and hadn't won on the road in the postseason since the Western Conference finals in 2006.

Who'd have thought it possible? The Mavericks were a timid road team all season. Suddenly, they came out with the passion and grit that usually belongs to the Spurs. The Mavericks may not be in control of this best-of-7 series. But they certainly sent a loud, clear message to many of their doubters.

"It's a matter of us going out and proving not only to everybody else, but also to ourselves that we can compete on a high level," the Mavericks' Jason Terry said.

And they did it with Howard, J.J. Barea, Brandon Bass and Antoine Wright doing the yelling.

For once, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Terry didn't have to be otherworldly for the Mavericks to be a salty outfit.

"It's huge to start off like this," Bass said of taking the home-court advantage away in Game 1. "The momentum is on our side. We've just got to keep it going. That's what it's going to take for us to be successful. The bench has to come in and give us something. That's why we were able to get the win."

Wright had a 3-pointer and a three-point play in the fourth quarter while Barea and Erick Dampier each a pair of scores in a 14-3 binge that freed the Mavericks to a 95-83 lead with under five minutes left.

Dampier and Barea were doing the bulk of the work. Barea was chewing up the Spurs the way Tony Parker usually knifes through the Mavericks.

Dampier was doing a wonderful job on Tim Duncan and finished with a double-double. On perhaps the signature moment of the night, Dampier slammed a point-blank shot from Duncan into the crowd. Duncan ended up on his backside out of bounds, complaining that no foul was called.

"Duncan played great," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, acknowledging Duncan's 27 points and nine rebounds. "But there were a couple of key stops that we were able to get. Damp put his body in the right position and he battled.

"Antoine's six points in the fourth quarter really gave us a lift. And Bass' stretch of shot making and defense in the first half, along with that big shot he hit in the last minute, those were all decisive plays. Our bench came up big."

Down the stretch, the Mavericks held tough. The Spurs pulled within 95-88, but Nowitzki came through with a couple of baskets and the lead was back to 99-89 with under two minutes to go.

Michael Finley canned a 3-pointer with 1:09 to go and the Mavericks - clearly not wanting to take any chances - called timeout. Then Bass coaxed a 14-foot jumper to curl into the net, clinching things.

Carlisle gave a little fist pump - a rare show of emotion for him during a game - as the Mavericks won for the second time in a row on San Antonio's court in the playoffs. They closed out the 2006 second round with a Game 7 win at AT&T Center.

"We're a humble team, but we're a hungry team," Carlisle said. "We know San Antonio is going to come back, but we kept battling, even when things weren't going so well in the first half."