SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili stepped off the podium and bumped into Dirk Nowitzki. They shook hands. Nowitzki gave his longtime foe a congratulatory slap on the back and Ginobili disappeared down the hallway. He was off to celebrate a playoff series win. Just like old times for the Spurs.
“We’re thrilled that we beat them,” Ginobili said. “We’re really proud of it.”
Nowitzki then sat down for a playoff ritual of his own — dissecting yet another first-round failure by the Mavericks.
Ginobili scored 26 points and San Antonio survived blowing a 22-point lead to finish off the Mavericks 97-87 in Game 6 on Thursday night, getting payback after Dallas eliminated the Spurs a year ago in the opening round.
The Spurs will play Phoenix in the West semifinals that start Monday.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, slump away into another early summer. Dallas lost in the first round for the third time in four years.
The Mavericks have won 50 games 10 consecutive seasons, but have only one trip to the NBA Finals to show for it.
“Going into the playoffs as a No. 2 seed, it is all we could have wanted,” Nowitzki said. “We just happened to see a tough No. 7 seed that got rolling at the right time.”
Said Mavericks guard Jason Terry: “As of right now this season is a failure.”
Nowitzki nearly carried the Mavs to an unbelievable comeback, getting 25 of his 33 points in a remarkable second half. But George Hill, the hero for the Spurs in Game 4, scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to keep the series from going back to Dallas.
San Antonio is only the fifth No. 7 seed to win a first-round series, and the first since the opening round became a best-of-seven format in 2003. It hadn’t been done since New York beat Miami in 1998.
“The only reason (the Spurs) were the 7 seed is because they’ve been hurt all year,” Mavericks center Brenden Haywood said. “This could have been the Western Conference finals. The teams are that good. This isn’t like a monumental upset or anything. You all are talking like this is the NCAA Tournament and the 15 seed just beat the 2.”
This one is especially tough for team owner Mark Cuban, who plunked down an extra $30 million for a deal at the trade deadline that brought Caron Butler from Washington.
Cuban, who needled San Antonio earlier in the series by saying he hated the Spurs, congratulated them afterward and said he would root for his Texas rivals the rest of the way.
Suns 99, Trail Blazers 90
PORTLAND, Ore. — Jason Richardson scored 28 points, including five 3-pointers, and Phoenix advanced to the second round by winning the series 4-2.
The Suns went up 53-41 at halftime and led by as many as 16 points in the second half. The Blazers tied it at 76 midway through the fourth quarter but could not pull ahead.
Martell Webster had 19 points for Portland.
