"I can't focus on that," Parker said. "It's San Antonio against Dallas. We all know they're going to come back strong. They're going to play very physical."

Parker slashed his way to 38 points in the Spurs' Game 2 victory, prompting Dampier to threaten the point guard with a hard foul the first time he ventures into the lane tonight. After a visit from NBA security, Dampier backed off his comments Wednesday, saying he had to intention of hurting Parker.

Given the nature of the Spurs' 105-84 triumph Monday, Parker's teammates say they weren't surprised to hear of Dampier's remarks.

"That's a team that had somebody score (38) points on them," Roger Mason Jr. said. "Tony lives by getting in the paint. He'll get hit, he'll get up. Tony's a tough guy, and we all have his back."

Parker has already taken one hard shot in the series, a Game 2 takedown courtesy of Jason Terry that earned the Dallas guard a Flagrant 1. Asked if the threat of bodily harm would be enough to keep Parker out of the lane in Game 3, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich chuckled.

"Have you seen Tony play for eight years?" Popovich said. "He's a tough kid."

Speaking of tough: Spurs forward Drew Gooden says he's good to go for Game 3, two nights after a collision with Josh Howard left him nursing a sore right shoulder and spitting blood.

All Gooden needed was a nice, long soak in the hot tub.

"The hot tub was the best thing for it," Gooden said. "After I got out of there, I felt a lot better. I haven't been spitting up blood since that night, so that's a good thing."

Argentine role model: Acknowledging the report that Terry had been named winner of the NBA's Sixth Man Award, coach Rick Carlisle heaped high praise on Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, calling him the role model for great players willing to adapt for the good of their team.

While praising Terry's willingness to embrace the sixth man role, Carlisle pointed to Ginobili, who won last year's Sixth Man Award, as an example for all players.

"A lot of star caliber players would struggle with that," Carlisle said. "Ginobili's been a guy the last two or three years who has embraced that and looked at it as a way to help his team. That's a great example for all guys in our league."

Game 5 set: Game 5 of the series will tip off at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on TNT.

Staff writer Mike Monroe contributed to this report.