Dirk Nowitzki criticized Erick Dampier after Amare Stoudemire outscored the Dallas center 40-0 in Monday night's 127-102 Phoenix victory.

"He's a step slow on everything," Nowitzki said after the game. "He never got involved in the game. He has always been in foul trouble. The first series was the same thing. He gets a quick two fouls in the first two or three minutes, and we can't be aggressive any more. Then he gets the third foul and has to sit."

Nowitzki continued.

"The bottom line is we've got to get something out of our center position," he said. "We really haven't gotten anything out of it."

Nowitzki also shouted at Dampier as the two ran down the court following a three-point play by Stoudemire over the Dallas center's back.

Dampier lashed back before the team's workout on Tuesday.

"He can say what he wants," Dampier said. "We really didn't get a lot from anyone. This is not a one individual game. It's a team concept. We didn't play the way we are capable of playing, so for him to say something like that is totally stupid."

Mavs coach Avery Johnson said, "You know what's stupid? The way the Mavericks played the last game, that was stupid."

Nowitzki did not back down from his comments.

"I'm not going to change what I said, and I don't think I need to talk to him," he said.

Johnson, a rookie coach who appears to be losing control of his team believes he can control the issue.

"We're OK. We trust each other," the coach said. "We have strong character and strong fiber on this team. We just didn't play like the team you guys saw in the first round. We're embarrassed, we're bitter, we're disappointed. Obviously we know we're up against a very tough team, but our best team didn't show up last night."