(My Sportsbook) - Trading for Chauncey Billups has certainly paid off for the Northwest Division champion Denver Nuggets.

The playoff-tested Billups, who was acquired from Detroit early this season, is the pure point guard George Karl has lacked since arriving in the Rocky Mountains.

Billups' presence has already helped Denver win a postseason series for the first time in 15 years after the club dismantled New Orleans in five games during the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Now, the second-seeded Nuggets move on to face the upstart Dallas Mavericks in the West semifinals beginning Sunday at the Pepsi Center. The sixth-seeded Mavs dispatched of San Antonio, also in five games.

With Billups running the show this season the Nuggets have earned home-court advantage in the playoffs for the first time since 1988, tied a franchise record for regular season wins with 54 and snapped an ugly six series losing streak in the first round of the playoffs.

Star forward Carmelo Anthony finished with 34 points in the Game 5 clincher against the Hornets on Wednesday, as Denver pulled away for a 107-86 win. The Nuggets won the series in dominating fashion, having taken each of its victories by double digits -- including a 121-63 shellacking in Game 4 that matched the largest margin of defeat in NBA playoff history.

The victory gave the Nuggets their first playoff series win since 1994, when they defeated Seattle in the West quarters. Meanwhile, Billups, who led the Pistons to six straight Eastern Conference finals and the 2004 NBA title, helped Anthony get out of the first round after five straight losses.

"Our confidence is very high right now," Billups said. "We're feeling really good about how we're playing, about the unselfishness of the team and how we're locked in on defensive coverages and stuff. We're feeling really good."

Rick Carlisle's Mavs, meanwhile, moved on when Dirk Nowitzki poured home 31 points with nine rebounds and Jason Terry, the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, added 19 points off the bench, as Dallas secured its quarterfinals series with a comfortable 106-93 victory over San Antonio in the Alamo City on Tuesday.

The Spurs, who were playing without last season's Sixth Man of the Year, Manu Ginobili, lost in the opening round for the first time since 2000 and were bested in a first round series for the first time with perennial All-Star Tim Duncan.

"To win two games on the road in a tough environment was good," said Nowitzki. "It felt like we couldn't get out of the first round since we made it to the Finals. It's a big step for us and our role players played great throughout the whole series."

Denver dominated its series with the Mavs in the regular season, winning all four contests but most of the games were very close. The Nuggets beat Dallas by three, 10, two and two points in the four contests.

Meanwhile, The teams have met just one time in the postseason, a 4-2 Dallas win in the West semis in 1988.