Dallas earn their spurs

Dirk Nowitzki and Devin Harris each had 21 points for the Mavericks, who overcame a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to win the battle between two of the league's best teams.

"It was a big game for us," Nowitzki said. "We didn't want to lose at home," he added. "We just dropped one at home to Utah."

The Spurs, who have the third-best overall record, did not score in the final 4:17 and went without a field goal in the closing six and a half minutes.

Their leading scorer and rebounder, Tim Duncan, was ejected in the third quarter after being charged with two technical fouls in less than two minutes.

Nowitzki played almost 37 minutes even though Dallas coach Avery Johnson said he might rest his starters for part of the game.

"We wanted to keep our rhythm here for the playoffs," Nowitzki added. "We've got one more week and then the big dance starts."

The playoffs begin on Saturday with the Mavericks the top seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio are likely to be the third seed behind the Phoenix Suns.

Dallas took the lead for good with 50 seconds to play when Josh Howard stole the ball from Manu Ginobili and Greg Buckner hit a running layup.

That made it 88-86 and the Mavericks closed out the scoring with a free throw by Jerry Stackhouse and two by Harris.

San Antonio missed nine straight shots during its dry spell and scored only 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points. Duncan had 16 points before being ejected.

Kobe Bryant scored 50 points and the Los Angeles Lakers locked up a Western Conference playoff berth with a 109-98 home win over the Seattle SuperSonics.

The victory was just the third in 11 games for the Lakers, who will finish either seventh or eighth in the conference.

The Orlando Magic claimed the final Eastern Conference playoff spot by holding off the Boston Celtics for an 88-86 home win.

The Toronto Raptors earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 107-105 home win over the New York Knicks.

The Golden State Warriors moved back into the Western Conference playoff picture with a 121-108 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jason Richardson had 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as the Warriors broke a tie with the Los Angeles Clippers in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Ben Gordon scored 30 points and the Chicago Bulls roared to a 101-68 home win over the depleted Washington Wizards, who had only 27 points in the first half.