OAKLAND, Calif. – All the talk of payback and revenge didn’t mean a thing.

Sure, Dirk Nowitzki knocked Golden State’s Baron Davis to the floor with a hard screen early in the game. Devin Harris stood and scowled at Matt Barnes after the Warriors swingman laid him out on a drive.

But it didn’t matter how physical the Mavericks were or the fact they hung on for a pulsating 120-115 victory Thursday night at Oracle Arena. Nothing could erase the memory of what the Warriors did to the Mavericks in the playoffs.

“I don’t think it ever leaves you, just like any success you have never leaves you,’’ Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.

“When you have successes, you know you can do it. When you have some failures, you try to learn from it and come back stronger mentally and physically.

“If you can do that, that’s the test of whether you really learned something.’’

One thing the Mavericks learned from their playoff loss is that they need a more athletic presence in the middle against Golden State and other teams that like to go small and fast. Brandon Bass flashed promise that he could be that player.

Bass came off the bench to muscle his way to 10 points and 12 rebounds, the first double-double of his NBA career. He was on the court at the end of the game and came up with a huge offensive rebound in traffic when Nowitzki missed a 3-pointer.

“That’s why we got him,’’ Johnson said. “We need double-doubles out of our big guys. We need big men who are able to play on the perimeter.’’

Bass blocked two shots, and Johnson argued he should have gotten credit for two others. He played 32 minutes.

“A game like this makes you really feel good,’’ Bass said. “It makes you feel like you are helping and contributing. These type of games really boost my confidence.’’

The Warriors were a confident bunch entering the game. It was justified. The Mavericks hadn’t won in this arena in 22 months. Their last victory came on Jan. 25, 2006.

Golden State’s Andris Biedrins said, “everybody feels good about themselves playing against Dallas because of what we did last year.’’

Al Harrington anticipated the Mavericks would come into the game with revenge on their minds and a playoff mind-set. When asked if the Warriors owned the Mavericks, Harrington said, “I guess. But I don’t want to want to give them any bulletin-board material.

“We won a lot of games versus them. I wouldn’t say we own anybody, but that’s a great matchup for us.’’

Great is not a word Nowitzki would use to describe his performance against the Warriors six months ago. The league’s Most Valuable Player took a serious hit to his image.

“When we took over, we asked Dirk and the rest of the team, ‘do you want to be a Cinderella story and fly under the radar and not talk about winning championships, or do you want to talk about winning championships where the scrutiny is really high and the rewards are great?’ ’’ Johnson said. “That’s what they wanted.

“When we don’t win, a lot of the fingers are pointed at Dirk. That’s what he wanted, that’s what I wanted, even though we know it’s a team sport.

“I think this is an exciting place to be for a 29-year old man in his career and his life.’’

Nowitzki struggled again, going 6-of-15 from the field and turning the ball over twice. But he did score eight of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and hit some big free throws late.

Davis, as he was last spring, was brilliant for the Warriors. He played all but four seconds of Thursday’s game and finished with 37 points, five rebounds and five assists. He had a wide open 3-pointer to tie the score with 4.9 seconds left and missed.

AP

Golden State's Baron Davis (left) scored 37 points, but the Dallas Mavericks prevailed.

“We tried to switch and got a little confused,’’ Harris said.

The Mavericks didn’t shy away from Golden State’s pace. They encouraged it. The goal was to score 125 points.

They fell just short but came away with a win.

“You know the rivalry is there,’’ Harrington said. “Everybody knows what happened last year, and they came in trying to make a statement that to them, last year was a fluke.

“But it’s only one game, and I think we see them three more times. It will be an ongoing battle.’’

A battle the Mavericks are up for.

“I think we have all the pieces that we need, but we can’t prove that until the playoffs,’’ Nowitzki said before the game. “Nothing we do in the regular season will matter, even if we go 81-1.

“We’ve got to play our best when it comes to April and May and hopefully we can have a great playoff run again.’’