Stoudemire Has 21 As Suns Beat Spurs

[April 10, 2008]  SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Amare Stoudemire scored 21 points and five other Phoenix players scored in double digits in the Suns' 96-79 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

The Suns won their second game in a row on the second night of a back-to-back and remained in sixth place in the Western Conference.

Shaquille O'Neal had eight of his 16 points in the decisive fourth quarter and grabbed nine rebounds for Phoenix. Steve Nash scored 12 points -- including eight in the fourth quarter -- and had 10 assists.

Tim Duncan scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds for the Spurs, and Tony Parker added 20 points.

The two teams continue to jockey for seeding in the tight Western Conference, but Wednesday's result didn't change their positioning. San Antonio remained in second place behind New Orleans.

The Suns and Spurs could match up with any number of teams in the first round -- including each other. The two had a testy second-round series last year that San Antonio won in six games on its way to the title.

O'Neal was back after missing Tuesday's game with a right hip contusion.

Up by four points with a quarter to play, O'Neal and Nash helped Phoenix pull away in the fourth, spearheading a decisive 13-0 run to go up by 19 points -- 92-73 -- with 3:52 to go. Not long after, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich cleared his bench.

Phoenix outscored San Antonio 24-11 in the fourth.

The Spurs jumped out to an early lead off of the Suns' poor shooting.

The Suns fought back in the second quarter, taking a brief lead during an 8-0 run highlighted by Nash's first score of the game and six straight points from Stoudemire, who hit his second of back-to-back dunks over Duncan off a no-look pass from Nash.

The teams were tied 45-45 at the half.

After three quarters the Suns had improved their shooting to better than 50 percent and while Nash still wasn't scoring, he was dishing the ball left and right to find openings for teammates.

Boris Diaw's dunk -- off a pass from Nash -- put the Suns up 67-66 with 2:20 to go in the third and was part of Phoenix's 11-2 run to close the quarter and take a 72-68 margin with 12 minutes to go.

The Suns -- the league's top 3-point shooters -- also started hitting from beyond the arc. They had two 3s as part of the third-quarter closing burst and Leandro Barbosa opened the final period with his second 3 of the night.

Notes: The Suns won the season series 3-1. ... Of the race for seed position in the West, Popovich said pregame: "It's been a real competitive year more than any other year and the playoffs will be fantastic because of that. ... There are no favorites really, it doesn't matter what the seeding is going to be, the seeding is really irrelevant." ... The Suns finished 4-of-11 from 3-point range. The Spurs were 2-of-9.

[Associated Press; By ELIZABETH WHITE]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.