Nowitzki's 37 points enough to hold off defending champs

09:12 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 23, 2006

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO – There's a new basketball king in Texas and, judging from Monday night's show of courage and heart against the San Antonio Spurs, maybe the whole NBA before long.

A magnificently competitive playoff series finally ended with the Mavericks dethroning the NBA champions with the sort of clutch plays and toughness reserved for title-worthy teams.

That Dirk Nowitzki delivered them was appropriate.

The big German attacked the basket for a three-point play that forced overtime, then got a lot of help from his friends in the extra period as the Mavericks finished one of the best series in recent NBA history with a 119-111 win over the Spurs, eliminating their long-time nemesis four games to three at the AT&T Center.

The Mavericks will play the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference finals, starting Wednesday at American Airlines Center.

"It was an amazing series," said Nowitzki, who had 37 points and 15 rebounds while playing Spurs' big man Tim Duncan to a standoff. "To be a part of it was great. We believed it was our time to win this."

The Mavericks beat the Spurs in a playoff series for the first time; San Antonio had ended their season in two of the previous five years. It's the first time the Spurs have been knocked out of the playoffs at home since 1993.

"It's simply one of the best series in NBA history," said Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations. "It was a knock-down, drag-out between a couple heavyweights. And it's a significant step for the franchise."

The Mavericks are in the conference finals for the third time in franchise history. They have never made the NBA Finals. This will be the first time they've had the home-court advantage in the conference finals.

And they earned every bit of it.

"We haven't won the championship," said coach Avery Johnson, who along with Nowitzki and other Mavericks exchanged hugs with all the Spurs after the overtime buzzer. "But how about those Mavericks? We battled against a championship team, a team with a lot of guts. It was a great victory for us."

The Mavericks let the Spurs know early that this would be a rugged night. With Nowitzki doing much of the damage, the Mavericks hit their first seven shots and 18 of their first 21. Before they cooled off, they had a 58-38 lead late in the first half.

But they knew it wouldn't be that easy. The Spurs crept back.

Manu Ginobili hit a 3-pointer with 32.2 seconds left that drilled all the way through the Mavericks' hearts, giving the Spurs their first lead of the game at 104-101.

After Ginobili's rainbow, the Mavericks set up Nowitzki, and he delivered with a strong move to the basket. His layup curled in, and he was fouled by Ginobili. He calmly sank the free throw to make it 104-104 with 21.6 left.

"I don't know how the ball went in," Nowitzki said. "Manu hit my hand. It was a lucky bounce."

The hoop gods smiling favorably on the gutsy little bunch against a team that had won three of the last seven NBA titles, perhaps?

The Spurs held for the final shot, but Ginobili's drive was too hard off the backboard, and Duncan had his put-back try deflected by Nowitzki.

When they reached overtime, the Mavericks never slowed. Johnson had one message for them: Run.

Every player contributed. And they got a couple of point-blank misses from Duncan, who was astounding all night with 41 points and 15 rebounds. The Mavericks scored on their first five possessions of overtime. Four different players scored, none of them named Nowitzki.

Pinned in the same corner from which he misfired in Game 1, Jerry Stackhouse rose up on the baseline and hit a well-guarded 18-footer with 1:48 to go to put the Mavericks up 114-108. Duncan scored once, but he left a couple of jump-hooks on the front rim that kept the Mavericks clear.

When DeSagana Diop corralled a missed Jason Terry jumper with 22.7 left, he made one of two free throws for a 115-110 lead. From there, it was only a matter of time before they celebrated.

"This is a testament to our perseverance," said Terry, who had 27 points and redeemed himself for getting suspended for Game 6.

Indeed, it was redemption all the way around. If you don't grow up as a legitimate title-contender until you confront your biggest enemies, the Mavericks have truly grown up.

E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com