SAN ANTONIO ? The Dallas Mavericks missed their first free throw and made their final 49. Yep, 49 in a row.

That superb free-throw shooting — along with a few defensive gimmicks from Don Nelson’s book of tricks — was how the Mavericks pulled off a stunning comeback and defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 113-110, Monday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

“I didn’t know we shot that well, but I don’t expect us to miss,” Nelson said. “It was an incredible basketball game.

“We didn’t have a great game, but we found a way to win.”

The Mavericks closed the game with a 24-9 run after falling behind by as many as 18 points and trailing for nearly the entire game.

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 38 points, going 17-for-17 from the line, and Michael Finley was 10-for-10 at the stripe while scoring 26. Nick Van Exel was 7-for-7 at the line for 14 points, and Steve Nash was 6-for-6 and scored 22.

“The big thing for us is we got to the line 50 times,” Nowitzki said. “Usually we average 10 or 11 per game and get outshot by about 20.”

NBA playoff history includes 10 games in which a team made all of its free throws, with the best of the bunch a 28-for-28 performance by Phoenix in 1989.

That makes what Dallas did even more impressive, given that they were 0-for-1 from the line after Eduardo Najera missed the first one with 2:25 left in the first quarter.

That was the same first quarter in which this game looked totally different from the way it ended. Tim Duncan was nearly unstoppable, Dallas was frustrated, and it looked as though the Spurs might turn it into a runaway.

The three-hour, one-minute game certainly didn’t turn out that way.

Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) shoots over San Antonio's Tim Duncan (21) and David Robinson. The Mavericks beat the Spurs, 113-110, Monday in San Antonio.

After Dallas fell behind 101-87 with 81¼2 minutes left, the Mavs made their comeback. Finley ended it by driving around his defender and scoring on a floater over Duncan for a 111-110 lead with 14 seconds left.

Duncan shot an airball from in close while being double-teamed, and Nowitzki made two free throws with 4 seconds left for a three-point lead.

The Mavericks wouldn’t allow the Spurs to attempt a tying three-pointer, choosing instead to foul Duncan immediately after he caught the inbounds pass.

Duncan missed both free throws — a fitting ending on a night when he missed seven of 19 foul shots and the Spurs missed 17 of 48.

“It came down to free throw shooting and being aggressive,” Duncan said.

“They’re a high-octane team, and the whistle was blowing left and right.”

The referees called a total of 72 fouls — 36 on each team.

Duncan tied his career playoff-high with 40 points and had 15 rebounds, while Tony Parker had 18 points.

Bruce Bowen — the object of Nelson’s Hack-a-Bruce strategy — added 13 points for the Spurs, who were outscored 30-19 in the fourth quarter.