Drew's in, but not for Dampier

Drew Gooden just came into the game with 5:19 to go in the first quarter, replacing Dirk Nowitzki. Rick Carlisle made a point before the game that Gooden's return from injury wouldn't necessarily impact Erick Dampier's playing time. To that end, the Mavericks have Gooden and Dampier on the court together. It might help that Dampier is off to a great start with four points, two rebounds and two blocks in seven minutes. Asked about the return of Gooden impacting Dampier, Carlisle said: "I'm not concerned about that. The good thing about having a lot of good players is that you can take some of the minutes burden off of some guys. I love the way Damp's playing. I don't know that it's going to affect his minutes that much. We'll see. Each game's going to be a little different. The one thing I do know is Damp's going to keep approaching it the same way. And he's going to keep playing hard and well. He's been doing it for two years now. "Drew coming back probably will affect other guys more than Damp. That's the reality.'' --Eddie Sefko