News / Sports
NBA Scores: Spurs Take Advantage of Suspensions, Beat Suns in Game Five
Tim Duncan scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Manu Ginobili added 26 points and 10 boards as the San Antonio Spurs used a late fourth quarter charge to knock off the Phoenix Suns 88-85 and take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
Playing without Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw who were serving a one-game suspension for leaving the bench in Monday’s contest, the Suns went with just six players for the majority of the night. By the end of the game it was evident that fatigue had set in and the Spurs capitalized.
The Suns opened up an 11 point lead in the opening stages of the fourth quarter but a 13-4 run by the Spurs cut their deficit to two with eight minutes remaining in the game. Steve Nash then buried a three-pointer for the Suns and Kurt Thomas completed a three-point play to bump the lead back to eight with just under six minutes on the clock and it looked as if the Suns would hold on for the home win.
That’s not the way it played out though as Michael Finley sank a three-pointer, Manu Ginobili hit all three free-throws after being fouled by Nash and Tony Parker added a jumper and the score was tied at 79-79 with 2:29 remaining.
With the score tied at 81-81 Bruce Bowen drilled a triple with 36 seconds left on the clock and after the two teams traded free-throws the Suns had one more chance to tie the game but Nash’s three-pointer fell short with six seconds left and Finley sealed the game with a pair of free-throws.
The series now shifts back to San Antonio where the Spurs will try to close the series out on Friday in game six of their best of seven series.
