The semifinal field is now set for the National Basketball Association championship. The last two places go to the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns, each seventh-game winners in their Western conference finals Monday.
Germany's Dirk Nowitzki was a tower of strength for Dallas, scoring 37 points and pulling in 15 rebounds during an overtime win in San Antonio, 119-111. The Spurs, the defending NBA champions, had a three-point lead with 32 seconds left in regulation time, but Nowitzki came back with a three-point play, and the Mavs muffled San Antonio's offense in the extra period.
The Spurs' Tim Duncan had his best-ever playoff performance - 41 points and 15 rebounds.
The other seventh-game final on Monday, in Phoenix, was a relatively easy 127-107 win for the Suns over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Phoenix shot 60 percent from the field, sparked by Steve Nash's 11 assists and 29 points (including four-out-of-five from three-point range). The Clippers' Elton Brand had 36 points and nine rebounds.
The NBA semifinals begin later Tuesday in Miami, with the Heat meeting the Detroit Pistons in another best-of-seven series. After a travel day, Phoenix and Dallas will face off Wednesday in Texas.
