01:47 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 24, 2006

By MATTHEW HAAG and JONATHAN TJARKS / The Dallas Morning News

With the excitement of a dramatic Mavericks victory over San Antonio still in the air, around 500 people braved early morning traffic to wait outside the American Airlines Center for tickets to the next series against the Phoenix Suns.

“Dallas is really moneying up to see the Mavericks,” said Stubhub.com spokesman Sean Pate. “The level of interest is really high; there has been quite a lot of activity.”

Limited tickets for Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference Finals, which went on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, were gone in minutes, an American Airlines Center executive said.

Only 2,500 tickets were made available for each of the first two home games, which are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.

Quandel Thomas, who said he wore a Jason Kidd jersey in the late ‘90s when it “wasn’t cool to be a Mavericks fan,” arrived at 2:45 a.m., only to learn that camping wasn’t allowed.

“Thank God I work nearby,” said Thomas, who napped in his office’s break room before returning at 6 a.m. to wait in line.

While Mavericks fever is sweeping the city after the Game 7 119-111 overtime win, there may be a more calculated reason for such enthusiasm. Upper-bowl tickets, which were sold for a face value of $16 to $20, were going for $355 on eBay on Tuesday afternoon.

On Stubhub.com, the average selling price was $248, with a high of $875. By comparison, the average price for Tuesday night’s Pistons-Heat Eastern Conference Finals match-up was only $176.

With interest at an all-time high, the Mavericks ticket hot line still was being deluged with hopeful callers at 1 p.m., long after the last tickets had been sold.

With the Spurs finally defeated after a seven-game series, the fans in line expressed confidence about Dallas’ prospects to make it to the NBA Finals.

“I think we beat the best team [in the NBA] in this series,” Mesquite resident David Le said of the Spurs’ defeat. “That was the best series I have ever seen.”