By Paul Levine May 23, 2006, 15:43 GMT
Los Angeles - Dirk Nowitzki put his teammates on his shoulders and carried the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference finals.
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, of Germany, reacts as he makes his way back to the bench during a timeout late in the second half of game 7 of the Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs NBA Western Conference semifinals game at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas Monday 22 May 2006. Dallas won 119-111 in overtime to win the best of seven series 4-3 and to advance to the Western Conference Finals. EPA/AARON M. SPRECHER
The German juggernaut had 37 points, including the game-tying three-point play in the final seconds of regulation, along with 15 rebounds, and the Mavericks controlled the overtime for a thrilling 119-111 victory on Monday night in game seven to dethrone the NBA champions San Antonio Spurs in their semifinal series
Dallas won the series 4-3 and advanced to the conference finals for the third time in franchise history and first since 2003, in a fantastic series in which six of the seven games were decided in the final minutes.
'This was am amazing series and to be part of it was unbelievable,' Nowitzki said. 'A couple of plays here and there and the series could have gone either way. We just believed it was our time to win it.'
Spurs' Tim Duncan agreed following a playoff career-high 41-point effort and 15 rebounds.
'This was a great series,' he said. 'It was the best series I ever played in. Both teams played it to the wire every game.'
Dallas will host the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night in the opener of the conference series. The Sun routed the LA Clippers 127-107 to win the other conference series, 4-3 as well.
'We have a much bigger plan than winning first or second round,' said Mavericks guard Jason Terry, who returned from a one-game league suspension to fire in 27 points. 'Now the Western Conference Finals is here. It's time for us to take another step.'
Frenchman Tony Parker scored 24 points and Argentine Manu Ginobili had 21 of his 23 in the second half for San Antonio, which was denied a chance to become the ninth team to ever overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
'This is a tough loss,' Ginobili said. 'We came back from 3-1 in the series and we came back from down 20 or so in tonight's game. We had a last chance to make the shot and win the game and the series. It is hard. You have to move on and go on from it.'
The Mavericks hit 18 of their first 21 shots to build a 20-point lead before taking a 64-50 halftime cushion.
'It was the worst first half of basketball we played all season,' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich confessed. 'That was exacerbated by the fact that they didn't miss any shots.'
The Spurs, however, chipped away and finally took the lead, 104- 101, when Ginobili buried a wide-open 3-pointer with 32 seconds left in regulation that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
'When Ginobili made the three, I saw everything slipping away a little,' Nowitzki said. 'But I said go to the basket and make something happen.'
Nowitzki muscled in for a layup and made the free throw to knot the score with 21 seconds remaining after Ginobili fouled in an attempt to block the shot.
'MVP. That is all I can say,' Terry said of Nowitzki. 'He thrives in those situations. He was determined to get to the basket and thankfully he finished strong.'
The Spurs had a final chance to win in regulation but Ginobili over shot the basket on a layup attempt and Duncan bobbled the rebound as time expired.
In the overtime, Jerry Stackhouse hit two key jumpers in a 10-4 run to open the extra session and the Mavericks pulled away.
'We put ourselves in a position to win the game,' Duncan said. 'We fought all the way back and in overtime we didn't have much left in the tank.'
Elsewhere:
Phoenix Suns 127, LA Clippers 107: After three days of much-needed rest, Steve Nash was back in MVP form, running the Suns' high octane offence.
Nash scored 29 points, including four 3-pointers, and handed out 11 assists, as the Suns rolled past the Clippers in deciding game seven to advance to the Western Conference finals for the second consecutive year.
'We had the three days off and you can tell we had our hop back tonight,' said Suns' coach Mike D'Antoni, whose club had played 12 games in 25 days. 'Sooner or later Steve was going to get his legs back and his confidence going. He did a great job.'
Shawn Marion had 30 points and Brazil's Leandro Barbosa added 18 to pace seven players in double figures for Phoenix, which buried 15 of 27 3-pointers in the lopsided win.
Elton Brand had 36 points and nine rebounds, while Corey Maggette scored 18 points for the inexperienced Clippers, who failed to advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history.
'This was a great experience for us,' Brand said. 'We learned a lot, and we didn't want to take it step-by-step, but now we understand what it takes - finish out ballgames and try to close out series.'
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