Suns top Spurs to sweep series
SAN ANTONIO - Steve Nash scored 20 points and played with a right eye that was swollen shut as the Phoenix Suns swept the San Antonio Spurs from the Western Conference semifinals with a 107-101 win Sunday night.
SAN ANTONIO - Steve Nash scored 20 points and played with a right eye that was swollen shut as the Phoenix Suns swept the San Antonio Spurs from the Western Conference semifinals with a 107-101 win Sunday night.
Amare Stoudemire led the way with 29 points to help the Suns get past the Spurs in the playoffs for the first time in five tries.
"That was ugly," Suns forward Channing Frye said, walking off the court.
Kind of like Nash's black-and-blue, stitched-up eye.
But it didn't bother Nash, who scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help smother a rally by the Spurs. Nash was accidentally struck by one of Tim Duncan's elbows in the third quarter and briefly went to the locker room with a cut underneath his eyebrow.
He came back with an ice pack on his eye. Even then, it wasn't back into the game right away - first he lay on the court with the ice still on his head.
"He looked like Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini," said Suns forward Grant Hill. "It forced him to focus because he was shooting out of one eye."
Phoenix sealed its third trip to the West finals since 2005, and gets another crack at returning to the NBA finals for the first time since 1993.
The Suns will either play the Los Angeles Lakers or the Utah Jazz in the West finals. The Lakers lead that series 3-0, and no team in NBA playoff history has ever come back from that deficit to win.
Add these Spurs to that list.
Phoenix 19 31 22 35 – 107
San Antonio 25 22 24 30 – 101
FG FT Reb
PHOENIX Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
GrHill 34:33 1-3 2-2 0-2 2 5 4
Stoudemire 37:40 10-17 9-10 2-5 1 5 29
Collins 4:48 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 1 2
Nash 36:45 8-15 1-1 1-4 9 1 20
Richardson 34:50 4-11 2-3 2-8 1 1 11
Frye 22:29 2-8 2-2 0-5 0 2 8
Dudley 31:22 6-7 1-1 1-6 4 3 16
Barbosa 18:55 2-10 2-2 0-2 2 3 7
Dragic 11:15 2-6 2-3 1-2 3 3 6
Amundson 7:23 1-1 2-4 1-2 0 0 4
Totals 240:00 37-81 23-28 8-37 22 24 107
Percentages: FG .457, FT .821. 3-Point Goals: 10-24, .417 (Dudley 3-3, Nash 3-3, Frye 2-7, Barbosa 1-3, Richardson 1-4, Gr.Hill 0-1, Dragic 0-3). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 12 (13 Pts). Blocked Shots: 6 (Amundson, Barbosa, Frye, Gr.Hill, Richardson, Stoudemire). Turnovers: 12 (Nash 4, Gr.Hill 3, Dragic 2, Richardson 2, Dudley). Steals: 9 (Dudley 2, Stoudemire 2, Amundson, Barbosa, Frye, Gr.Hill, Nash). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 2:00 third; Stoudemire, 10:32 third.
FG FT Reb
S. ANTONIO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Jefferson 33:37 4-8 4-5 0-8 2 3 12
McDyess 18:55 1-2 2-2 0-6 1 2 4
Duncan 36:15 7-14 3-7 3-8 2 5 17
Parker 35:51 10-19 2-3 1-5 5 2 22
Ginobili 37:58 2-11 10-12 0-6 9 1 15
GeHill 35:10 6-11 4-5 0-3 0 3 17
Bonner 30:13 5-6 2-2 1-3 0 3 14
Blair 6:37 0-3 0-0 2-3 1 1 0
Mason 5:24 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Bogans 0:02 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 240:02 35-75 27-36 7-42 20 21 101
Percentages: FG .467, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 4-11, .364 (Bonner 2-3, Ge.Hill 1-1, Ginobili 1-6, Duncan 0-1). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 16 (21 Pts). Blocked Shots: 4 (Duncan 3, Jefferson). Turnovers: 16 (Parker 4, Bonner 3, Duncan 3, Ginobili 3, Blair, Ge.Hill, Jefferson). Steals: 9 (Ginobili 5, Duncan 2, Ge.Hill, Jefferson). Technical Fouls: Coach Popovich, 3:18 third. A: 18,581 (18,797). T: 2:41. Officials: Monty McCutchen, Bob Delaney, Jason Phillips.
Celtics 97, Cavaliers 87
BOSTON - Rajon Rondo had 29 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists as Boston beat Cleveland to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series at two.
Rondo had a playoff career high in rebounds and matched his best scoring night with his fourth triple-double in his postseason career.
He became the third player in playoff history to have as many points, rebounds, and assists, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Oscar Robertson had 32 points, 19 rebounds, and 13 assists in 1963, and the 76ers' Wilt Chamberlain had 29 points, 36 rebounds, and 13 assists in 1967.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Cleveland.
Cleveland 22 23 27 15 – 87
Boston 31 23 20 23 – 97
FG FT Reb
CLEVELAND Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
James 43:14 7-18 8-11 1-9 8 4 22
Jamison 36:31 6-12 2-2 0-6 3 4 14
O'Neal 27:58 5-9 7-11 0-5 0 5 17
MWilliams 35:58 3-9 5-7 0-3 4 4 13
Parker 42:01 3-7 2-2 0-3 2 3 10
West 19:58 0-7 3-3 1-2 1 2 3
Varejao 25:09 3-4 2-3 1-3 1 3 8
Hickson 5:23 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
Moon 2:59 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Powe 0:49 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 240:00 27-67 29-39 3-33 19 27 87
Percentages: FG .403, FT .744. 3-Point Goals: 4-21, .190 (Parker 2-5, M.Williams 2-5, Jamison 0-3, West 0-3, James 0-5). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 17 (16 Pts). Blocked Shots: 5 (O'Neal 2, James, Jamison, Varejao). Turnovers: 17 (James 7, O'Neal 3, M.Williams 3, Hickson, Parker, Varejao, West). Steals: 6 (James 2, Parker 2, Varejao, West). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 8:55 first.
FG FT Reb
BOSTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Pierce 31:16 3-8 3-3 1-2 2 5 9
Garnett 33:23 6-11 6-6 2-6 2 5 18
Perkins 23:43 0-2 0-0 0-6 0 5 0
Rondo 46:48 9-21 11-16 4-18 13 2 29
RAllen 37:54 8-21 1-1 0-2 1 6 18
Wallace 19:32 0-3 3-4 0-3 0 4 3
TAllen 25:39 6-7 3-6 1-5 1 3 15
Davis 18:55 2-3 1-4 1-3 0 1 5
Finley 2:50 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Totals 240:00 34-76 28-40 9-47 19 31 97
Percentages: FG .447, FT .700. 3-Point Goals: 1-14, .071 (R.Allen 1-8, T.Allen 0-1, Garnett 0-1, Rondo 0-1, Wallace 0-1, Pierce 0-2). Team Rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: 12 (13 Pts). Blocked Shots: 8 (Perkins 4, Wallace 2, T.Allen, Davis). Turnovers: 12 (Rondo 4, T.Allen 2, Davis 2, Pierce 2, R.Allen, Perkins). Steals: 10 (T.Allen 2, Rondo 2, Wallace 2, R.Allen, Davis, Garnett, Pierce). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 6:15 first; Defensive three second, 7:44 second.
A: 18,624 (18,624). T: 2:54. Officials: Joe DeRosa, Mike Callahan, Michael Smith.