Spurs Grab a 3-0 Lead On Suns

Spurs 102, Suns 92

SAN ANTONIO, May 28 -- This was the San Antonio Spurs team everyone expects, the guys in black smothering the fun out of any offense, even the most high-powered.

Eliminating the fast break, denying the paint and running at three-point shooters, Tim Duncan and the Spurs dismantled everything the Phoenix Suns tried for most of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, turning their superb defense into a 102-92 victory tonight and a 3-0 series lead that puts them on the brink of reaching the championship round.

"I think the guys realized again who they are," San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said.

Duncan led San Antonio with 33 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks. He made all 15 of his free throws. Tony Parker had 18 points and seven assists and Manu Ginobili added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs, who have won 44 of 48 home games this season.

Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 34 points, but it was his lowest output in seven games this season against the Spurs. He scored 16 in the fourth quarter, and finished with 11 rebounds.

San Antonio held Phoenix under 106 points for the first time this postseason, mainly by giving up just 36 first-half points, including a measly 10 in the second quarter. The Suns finally made a charge in the fourth quarter, getting within six twice in the final minute, but the Spurs fought it off with Duncan and Ginobili going 6 of 6 from the foul line.

No team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series in the NBA playoffs. Phoenix seems pretty unlikely to change it; if the young Suns weren't rattled by getting outscored twice at home by defense-oriented San Antonio, then this throttling had to leave them shaking their heads.

Phoenix Coach Mike D'Antoni admitted his team "got rattled and really played in a frenzy."

Game 4 is Monday night, also in San Antonio. The Suns can send the series back to Phoenix with a win, while a San Antonio victory would put the Spurs into the NBA Finals for the second time in three years and third time in seven.

The Spurs won both times they were there, beating the New York Knicks in 1999 and the New Jersey Nets in 2003.

For Phoenix, Joe Johnson was solid in his first game since breaking a bone near his left eye May 11, hitting his first two shots and scoring 15 points. He was 6 of 14, including 2 of 3 on three-pointers.

"Other than not winning, I had a great time," Johnson said. "I got winded, but [the mask] didn't really bother me."

Johnson's return was supposed to make Steve Nash more effective, but that was hardly the case. Nash had just one assist through three quarters, frustrated by the way San Antonio packed the lane. He finished with 20 points but had just three assists against six turnovers as his playoff-record of four straight games with 25 points and 10 assists ended.

"We haven't found a way to stop them yet," Nash said. "There was a stretch there in the second quarter when we couldn't make any plays, couldn't get any momentum and we put our heads down."

Feeding off the energy of their home crowd, the Spurs' active hands and feet forced Phoenix into its lowest-scoring first half of the season. The 10 points in the second quarter matched its worst period.

The Spurs opened a window for a Suns rally by failing to make a basket for nearly the first seven minutes of the second quarter. But Phoenix missed its first six shots of the period and had trimmed only three points off the lead when San Antonio snapped out of its funk.

Ginobili ended the drought by turning a steal into an uncontested dunk and the Spurs were off on a 13-2 run that stretched their halftime lead to 17 points. The Suns missed their final seven shots going into the half.

Phoenix's streak of triple-digit playoff games ended at 12. It was the longest since the Boston Celtics had 22 in a row in 1987.

San Antonio forward Robert Horry played his 190th postseason game, tying Magic Johnson for fifth place on the all-time list.