Before he tries to motivate his team to outfox and outbox Gregg Popovich's team, Don Nelson might want to buy the San Antonio coach and his longtime friend a cold beer or six.

Thanks to Popovich sitting Tim Duncan and Stephen Jackson in Game 82 at San Antonio, the Mavericks scored a 21-point walkover in the regular-season finale at the SBC Center, an outcome that was meaningless to the Spurs, who had already clinched home-court advantage through the playoffs.

But to the Mavericks, that win meant the home-court advantage in Game 7 against Sacramento on Saturday, which played a huge role in them advancing to play the Spurs in the Western Conference finals. Game 1 is Monday in San Antonio.

This is the first time the Spurs and Mavericks have played in the Western Conference finals and only the second all-Texas conference finals. Houston played San Antonio in 1995 with the Rockets advancing to the NBA Finals and eventually winning it.