Dallas ? The nickname “Big D” stands for two things now: Dallas and Dirk.

Dirk Nowitzki earned the right to share that moniker after his best game of the second round put the Mavericks into the Western Conference finals.

The 7-footer from Germany had 30 points, 19 rebounds and a super-timely three-pointer — one of 11 by the Mavericks — as Dallas defeated the Sacramento Kings, 112-99, in Game 7 of their conference semifinal series.

“I wasn’t a big factor the whole series. I couldn’t find my rhythm,” said Nowitzki, who worked on his shot before the game with his personal mentor, Holger Geschwindner, to add a little arc. “I’m glad my jumper was a little better than it was a couple days ago.”

The result was the type of breakout game everyone had been waiting for from Nowitzki, whose struggles in this series were so pronounced that The Dallas Morning News listed him as a 20-1 underdog to be the hero of the game.

But he was the star of Game 7, with strong supporting roles from Nick Van Exel, Michael Finley, Steve Nash, Raja Bell and even Shawn Bradley as the Mavericks advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 1988.

The all-Texas showdown with the San Antonio Spurs begins Monday night, with the winner advancing to the NBA Finals.

“We didn’t play great for 48 minutes, but we kept the foot down,” Nash said.

Van Exel, the Mavs’ most consistent offensive producer during the high-octane series, had 23 points and four three-pointers. Finley added 18, Nash had 18 points and 13 assists and Bell chipped in 12 points.

“I think we owe the series to Nick Van Exel who, when things were looking bleak, got us thinking the right way and taking the next step that we really needed to hear from a teammate, not a coach,” Dallas coach Don Nelson said.

dallas forward dirk nowitzki celebrates a basket. The Mavericks beat Sacramento, 112-99, Saturday in Dallas.

Bradley did his part during the first three quarters, giving the Mavericks an interior defensive presence that caused the Kings problems trying to run their inside-outside game on offense. That tactic that usually worked when Sacramento had Chris Webber available, but he went down because of a knee injury in Game 2 to irrevocably change the dynamic of this series.

“You lose Webber, it’s like them losing Nowitzki or San Antonio losing (Tim) Duncan, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” Kings coach Rick Adelman said. “But I still give my team a lot of credit. They truly felt we could win this series without Chris Webber.”

As the Mavericks left the court, Finley lifted Nowitzki and carried him off — a fitting reward for a player who carried the Mavericks with 12-for-20 shooting.

Mike Bibby scored 25 and journeyman Jim Jackson added 24 for the Kings, whose season ended in a disappointing Game 7 loss for the second straight year.

Unlike last season when they had only themselves to blame for their Game 7 loss to the Lakers in the Western finals, this time they were simply outplayed for all but a few brief stretches.

“We had a couple of stops, hit some big shots and we were back in the game,” Divac said. “But every time we did that, they made big shots and put us away.”