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PHOENIX, Arizona: France’s Tony Parker scored a career-high 41
points as the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 115-99 win over the
Phoenix Suns in Game Three of their opening-round playoff series.
Parker, who also handed out 12 assists,
connected on 17-of-26 shots to surpass his previous best of 38
points against the Miami Heat on January 20, 2006.
“My shot felt good so I wanted to keep
shooting,” Parker said.
“They were backing off on the pick and rolls,
so I took every shot. We played great basketball and sometimes that
happens it just clicked.
“We knew coming in to Phoenix that we can’t
allow us to have a bad start, so I took it upon myself to be very
aggressive in the beginning to make sure we had a good start.”
The defending champion Spurs will look to
complete a series sweep on Sunday.
No team in league history has ever rallied from
three games behind to win a best-of-seven series.
“Tony has been very aggressive and did a great
job at both ends of the floor,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
“I don’t know what else to say about him.”
Tim Duncan collected 23 points and 10 rebounds
and Manu Ginobili scored 20 points off the bench for the Spurs, who
have sent the Suns packing in four of the last five playoffs.
In Philadelphia, Samuel Dalembert collected 21
points and 16 rebounds as the 76ers downed the Detroit Pistons 95-75
to grab a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Andre Miller scored 21 points and Andre Iguodala
contributed 10 and four steals for the Sixers, who held a commanding
51-35 advantage in the second half.
Philadelphia will look to build on its success
in Game Four on Sunday.
Richard Hamilton scored 23 points and Tayshaun
Prince chipped in 18 for Detroit, which shot just 40 percent
(27-of-66) from the floor and committed 25 turnovers.
Said Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni, “Tony
obviously was terrific.”
Even though Phoenix was in desperate need of a
win, it was San Antonio that came out hitting on all cylinders from
the start in this one.
The Spurs raced out to an impressive 27-12
advantage through the opening 8 1/2 minutes while shooting a
sizzling 72 percent (13-of-18) from the field.
After watching its lead get trimmed to 37-31
just four minutes into the second, San Antonio scored seven
consecutive points to create a 13-point cushion on three free throws
by Michael Finley with 6:50 remaining.
Parker’s running floater in the lane at the
buzzer helped the Spurs carry a 61-47 bulge at intermission. The
reigning NBA Finals MVP led the way with 19 points at the break.
Phoenix now sits on the brink of elimination
despite acquiring four-time champion Shaquille O’Neal, who was
supposed to solidify the middle with his defensive presence.
Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 boards and
Leandro Barbosa chipped in 20 in his first start of the series for
the Suns, who suffered their first three-game slide this campaign.
-- AFP
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