San Antonio, TX -- (Sports Network) - Bruce Bowen drained a huge three-pointer with 2:14 left in the game, and then handcuffed Dirk Nowitzki on the defensive end to help the San Antonio Spurs edge the Dallas Mavericks, 87-85, in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series at the AT&T Center.

"Bruce did a great job tonight," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He was obviously very focused. He earned his money tonight for sure."

Bowen was stationed in the right corner when Tony Parker drove through the lane and kicked the ball to the defensive-minded swingman. Bowen calmly knocked down the shot to give the Spurs an 87-84 lead.

Dallas scored just one point the rest of the way, thanks in large part to Bowen's pestering of Nowitzki, who finished third in the NBA's MVP voting.

The Mavericks had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds and got the ball to Nowitzki on the right block. But, Bowen forced the Dallas All- Star to swing the ball to Jerry Stackhouse in the left corner.

Stackhouse corralled a deflection but Manu Ginobili was all over the former North Carolina star as he lofted a three-pointer up at the basket as time expired.

"I knew they were going to go to Dirk," Bowen said. "I wanted to make his shot as tough as possible. He stumbled and if he would have taken it would have been a tough shot. He did the right thing and found the open guy and luckily Manu got a hand in there."

The attempt came up short and San Antonio survived.

Tim Duncan paced the top-seeded Spurs, who earned a 4-2 victory over the eighth-seeded Sacramento Kings in the opening round of the playoffs, with a game-high 31 points and 13 rebounds.

"He was pretty aggressive," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said of Duncan. "He got 20 points pretty easy in the first half, I thought we did a much better job defending him on the low block in the second half."

Parker added 19 points, while Ginobili had 15 in the win. Bowen finished with just six points.

Stackhouse netted 24 points off the bench for the fourth-seeded Mavericks, who lost for the first time in the playoffs. Dallas eliminated Memphis in four games in the conference quarterfinals.

Nowitzki finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Josh Howard had 17 points and nine boards.

"I think we handled him pretty well," Duncan said about Nowitzki. "He's tall, long and can finish at the basket. He's going to be a tough matchup throughout the series."

Game 2 of this best-of-seven set is scheduled to be played on Tuesday at the AT&T Center.

Dallas entered the final frame with a precarious one-point lead and the game remained tightly contested as it headed toward the stretch. San Antonio inched ahead, 83-79, with back-to-back buckets from Duncan and Parker midway through the quarter.

The Mavericks responded however. Stackhouse sandwiched a Ginobili free throw with two big buckets, and Howard followed that by making 1-of-2 from the line to even things again at 84 with just 3:28 left in the contest.

Bowen then connected on his huge three and shut down the Dallas offense at the other end to secure the win.

"This game was just a tale of two halves for us," said Johnson. "We came out in the first half and played with a lot of energy and set the tempo to start. The second half, they came out and they were the aggressor. They deserve to win. It was a hard fought game and we are disappointed that we lost. We'll get back to practice and be back for Tuesday."

The Spurs came out strong and tried to use the energy of the crowd to shake Dallas early. A pair of Duncan free throws put San Antonio on top, 7-2, with a little over three minutes gone in the opening frame.

The Mavs settled down over the next few minutes and deadlocked things at 15, when Nowitzki buried a jumper with under five minutes left.

Dallas than inched ahead. Howard's bank shot capped the scoring in the frame with the Mavericks on top, 29-26.

The two teams continued to play nip and tuck basketball into the second quarter. Duncan's lay-in midway through the quarter tied things at 38.

Dallas finished the stanza strongly. Nowitzki's fadeaway jumper found the twine with five seconds left to give the Mavericks a 52-46 edge heading into the locker room.

The Mavericks took their largest lead of the game, 54-46, when Howard opened the second half with a lay-in.

The Spurs quickly answered with the next eight points to even things at 54 with just over eight minutes remaining in the frame. Parker connected on two jumpers during the mini-run and Bowen capped it with a jumper of his own.

The teams traded baskets for the rest of the stanza and Dallas took a slim 72-71 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Game Notes

Jason Terry added 14 points for Dallas, while teammate Erick Dampier grabbed 10 rebounds in the game...Dallas won the battle of the boards, 47-40...The Spurs were 3-of-13 from long range. Dallas attempted just seven three-pointers and made two...San Antonio has reached at least the conference semifinals five straight years. The Spurs defeated Dallas in five in the 2001 semis, lost to the Lakers in five in 2002, beat the Lakers in six in the second round of the 2003 playoffs, fell to the Lakers in six in 2004 and beat Seattle in six contests in last year's semifinals...The Mavericks, who knocked out Houston in seven games during last year's first round, were eliminated in six games in the 2005 Western Conference semifinals by the Phoenix Suns. They have advanced to the conference finals just twice in franchise history (1988, 2003) and have never been to the NBA Finals...This is the third time that these teams have met in the postseason. San Antonio knocked out the Mavericks in the 2001 semis and defeated Dallas in six games in the 2003 conference finals.