DALLAS — Mavericks coach Avery Johnson spent days insisting he was going to counter the Golden State Warriors' small-ball attack by relying on his centers.

Warriors coach Don Nelson knew better than to believe him.

Prepared for Dallas' small lineup, Golden State handled it in the playoff opener just as well as it did in the regular season. The Warriors won 97-85 Sunday night, stretching their mastery over the Mavs to six straight games.

"It was really a super win for our team," Nelson said. "We don't expect to be world champs at the end of the playoffs, but every time we play in a high-intensity game like these are going to be, we gain experience."

Golden State's small defenders swarmed Dirk Nowitzki and pestered him into a 4-for-16 performance, and Baron Davis led the offense with 33 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.

Suns 95, Lakers 87At Phoenix, Leandro Barbosa scored 19 points in the second half to spark Phoenix's comeback and Kobe Bryant went from awesome to awful.Barbosa finished with 26 points, including 15 consecutive for Phoenix in one stretch, to match his career playoff scoring high.Bryant scored 39 points for Los Angeles, but only 11 in the second half.

Cavaliers 97, Wizards 82At Cleveland, LeBron James stayed in the game despite a sprained ankle and scored 23 points, Larry Hughes added 27 and Cleveland beat injury-depleted Washington in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference series.

Nuggets 95, Spurs 89At San Antonio, The high-scoring duo of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson provided the offense and Denver was tough defensively, too.Iverson scored 29 of his 31 points after the first quarter and Anthony added 30 points for the sixth-seeded Nuggets.