The San Antonio Spurs woke up last Tuesday to a new identity: They were no longer the best team in the N.B.A., the Western Conference or their division.

They are not even the best in Texas.

The Dallas Mavericks outlasted the Spurs in an exciting second-round series, winning Game 7 in overtime last Monday night and tipping the balance of power in what can now be called a great rivalry.

"It was so close — two overtimes, three games by one or two points, it was very good basketball," San Antonio point guard Tony Parker said. "It just didn't go our way."

The Spurs trailed by 3-1 in the series and were behind by 20 points in Game 7, despite playing at home. They rallied to take their first lead in the closing minutes but could not hold it.

"We had a last chance to make the shot and win the game and the series," said Manu Ginóbili, who fouled Dirk Nowitzki on a layup with 21 seconds left in regulation, leading to the tying point, then missed a potential winning shot with about 6 seconds left.

"It is hard," he said. "You have to move on and go on from it."

The Spurs have long been the bullies along Interstate 35, collecting division titles and championships while the Mavericks kept changing players and identities. San Antonio respected Dallas but never doubted it was the better team.

The series changed that. And with the former San Antonio star Avery Johnson having used his version of their system against them, the Spurs face the legitimate concern that the Mavericks are the team with the brighter future.

Dallas proved to be younger, faster, deeper and more balanced than the Spurs. Sure, it took an entire series and then some to prove it — and then only barely — but those tiny differences tend to get wider over time.

So it is only logical to expect whatever moves Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich and General Manager R. C. Buford make in the coming months will be done to help them match up with the Mavericks.

The Spurs certainly will not overhaul anything. This team set a franchise record for victories in the regular season, and is coming off two titles in three years and three in seven.

Even if they wanted to, it would not be easy. San Antonio already has 10 players under contract for next season.

The most significant free agent is center Nazr Mohammed, who hardly played against Dallas as Popovich went mostly with the 6-foot-11 Tim Duncan and four players 6-7 or shorter. The reserve guard Nick Van Exel has talked about retiring.

Free agents may consider taking less money to play with Duncan, Parker and Ginóbili, and to be part of a winning organization. That is what lured Michael Finley, a former Maverick who started two playoff games.

Other than trades, San Antonio may look overseas. The Spurs own the rights to Ginóbili's fellow Argentine Luis Scola, a 26-year-old power forward; Parker's fellow Frenchman Ian Mahinmi, a 19-year-old power forward; and Lithuania's Robertas Javtokas, a 26-year-old center.

The ages of those players might be especially intriguing.

The 24-year-old Parker and Ginóbili, 28, were the only 20-somethings San Antonio used in Game 7.

While Duncan turned 30 during the first round and proved he was still in the prime of his career (41 points in Game 7, career-best 32.3 a game against Dallas) and defensive whiz Bruce Bowen shows no signs of turning 35 next month, time is ticking for the rest of the Spurs.

Finley, a reserve most of the season, is 33. The three players who came off the bench were the 34-year-olds Van Exel and Brent Barry, and the 35-year-old Robert Horry.

Considering the reserves scored two points Monday night, adding players with younger, fresher legs who can provide Popovich with more scoring options and more lineup combinations might be high on the off-season to-do list.

The Mavericks, and the rest of the N.B.A., certainly are bracing for San Antonio to remain tough.

The organization blended Duncan with David Robinson to win a championship, won another with Robinson as a spare part, then won again without him.

And they did go down fighting this year.

"This is the best series I've ever played," Duncan said. "It was about the ball, whether the ball bounced one way or another, and the result is just how it bounced."

Michael Finley hit back against the Dallas Mavericks, and the San Antonio Spurs are still alive.

After absorbing the low blow that got Mavericks guard Jason Terry suspended, Finley ignored the taunts from the Dallas fans who used to adore him and scored 16 points to help the Spurs to a 91-86 victory Friday night, forcing a Game 7 in a series that certainly deserves to end that way.

Finley scored 10 points in the third quarter to help San Antonio hang close, then made the go-ahead basket on a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:45 left — and Dallas' 7-foot star Dirk Nowitzki running at him.

Finley then defended Nowitzki on a missed 3-pointer that could've tied it with 6.9 seconds left. The off-balanced shot landed well short. Tony Parker got the rebound, was fouled and hit both shots, sealing the Spurs' second straight salvation of their title defense.

The Spurs could become only the ninth team to overcome a 3-1 deficit — and the second this season. Phoenix did it in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Six of the other winners were at home for Game 7, just like San Antonio will.

The only solace for the Mavs is that they'll get back Terry, their second-leading scorer.

Terry was suspended for punching Finley between his legs during a loose-ball scramble in the closing seconds of Game 5. He joined the team at an afternoon shootaround, but had to watch the game at home.

They could've used his jumper and perhaps his ball-handling because Devin Harris struggled without him, especially down the stretch. Nowitzki did all he could with 26 points, 21 rebounds and five assists — team-bests in all three categories — but it wasn't enough.

Manu Ginobili had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and Tim Duncan had 24 points and eight rebounds.

Injuries: Nick Van Exel, inflamed left elbow, questionable.

PLAYER NOTES:

--With Nick Van Exel missing his first game of the season because of an inflamed left elbow, Beno Udrih got all the backup time behind starting point guard Tony Parker. He made two of four shots and had two assists in 12:32. Van Exel, who got a cortisone injection in his left elbow on Friday, said he likely would return to action for Wednesday's game against Portland.

--Tim Duncan had 10 rebounds, leaving him five shy of 7,500 for his career.

--Manu Ginobili, who missed nearly two weeks of action after his foot sprain, said he got no more tired than normal in Denver's thin air.

--The Spurs may have set an all-time NBA record for departure from an arena after the game. They had been warned that their charter jet might not be able to land back in San Antonio because of a weather front that was approaching the area and threatened to fog in the airport. By unofficial count, the Spurs were on their bus and rolling toward Denver International Airport just 20 minutes after the official end of the game. That meant the players just toweled off thoroughly after the game and did not shower. Manu Ginobili, for one, apologized to reporters during a hit-and-run interview session for the nasty locker room odors.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's kind of fun. It doesn't happen everywhere, and the reason why they do it is a very good one. Yeah, I enjoy it." -- Manu Ginobili, on being booed every time he touches the ball in Denver.

The Spurs have three days off before they have to play the Portland Trail Blazers at SBC Center, and they are definitely looking forward to three straight off days.

"We've played nine games in 15 days," assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo said after their victory over the Nuggets on Saturday night. "It's been a pretty demanding schedule."

In fact, the Spurs have had only two legitimate practice sessions in the last two weeks.

REPLAY: Nuggets coach George Karl said before the game that his defensive focus was on keeping Tony Parker from getting inside on penetrations to either score or create for his teammates.

"Tony's the guy I'm most concerned about," Karl said. "Their offense is more tilted toward him right now. It will balance out when (Manu) Ginobili is back and in shape. But Parker has gotten better. His penetrations are a problem."

The Nuggets managed to contain Parker, all right, but Ginobili, playing just his third game after missing eight with a sprained right foot, was a different story. He scored 20 points and handed out eight assists in just 24:39, all the while being booed by Nuggets fans who recall how he tormented the Nuggets in the Spurs' first-round playoff series victory last spring.

"We really had to monitor Manu's minutes," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, "but we really needed his energy on the court."