The Suns started slowly and allowed the Spurs to stretch out a 25-19 first quater lead over the visitors, but that would prove to be as good as it would get for San Antonio in a thrilling night of basketball. Phoenix managed to put together 9-2 run in the 2nd to take away the Spurs lead midway through the quater, which included some key play from their bench players, especially Jarred Dudley who racked up 16 pts on a very effective night.
The Spurs were by no means out of the tie however, as Manu Ginobili, who posted up 15 pts and 9 assists, managed to team with both Duncan and Parker to keep San Antonio's playoff hopes alive.
With 6 min left to play in the third Sun's fans watched with baited breath as All-Star point guard Steve Nash took a blow to the face from the elbow of fellow All-Star Tim Duncan. The knock opened a cut above Nash's right eye and would require Nash to leave the floor for the rest of the quater to get stitches. San Antonio used this period to put together an 11 point run and tie up the game heading into the fourth.
As the 4th ticked away the game remained tied with both teams trading minimal leads, until with 10 minutes left Steve Nash, back from the locker room, started to etch out a lead for Phoenix. After nailing a long range three, that game the Suns a 77-80 lead Nash went on to score another 7pts and 5 assists to add to his already impressive tallies.
Etching out a 6 point lead with 50 seconds to go, Suns fans could not have been scorned for thinking that they had this wrapped up, yet the Spurs remained in contention, with Parker and Nash trading buckets until George Hill was fouled whilst making a clutch 3 pointer, giving the Spurs a 4 point play and a chance to reduce the lead to 2.
However after a pair of Grant Hill free throws, Ginobili was unable to hit his three point attempt and after Richardson grabbed the rebound and hit the two resulting free throws, the Suns took game 4 and the Series over their rivals and progressed to the Western Conference Championships.
Nightly Notables
On a night where someone would have to step up in order to seal the deal for Phoenix, both Steve Nash, and Amar'e Stoudemire answered the call. Nash totalled an impressive 20 points, shooting 9/15 and dished the ball out across the court racking up 9 assists. Stoudemire's powerful inside game grabbed him 5 rebounds and 29 points, shooting a very impressive 10/17 on the night.
On the Spurs side of the ball, Tim Duncan grabbed 8 rebounds and 17 points, joint 2nd in scoring for San Antonio alongside George Hill who also hit 17 points, shooting 6/11. Tony Parker was the Spurs star of the night as he posted 22 points 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but it was not enough to keep them in the game or in the series.
Phoenix now wait for the Conclusion of tonights game between the LA Lakers and the Utah Jazz, to find out who they will meet in the Conference Finals. Utah who narrowly lost game 3 of their series need to win at home tonight in game 4 as they, like the Spurs were last night, stand on the brink of elimination, having lost the first 3 games of their series with Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers.
Else where tonight, the Orlando Magic come off a massive 40 point win over Josh Smith and the Atlanta Hawks and will be looking to close out the series away from home. Atlanta, who have been dominated by the Magic all series, will be relying on Smith and Johnson, neither of whom have impressed in the previous 3 games, to increase their production if the Hawks are to stand a chance of winning a series which many feel, is already over.
Orlando's (or Atlanta's) opponents in the Eastern Conference final will be either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Boston Celtics, who are locked at 2-2 in a nail biting series. The Cavs took a 2-1 lead in game 3 after LeBron James took centre stage racking up 38 points and 7 assists in a dominating 124 - 80 win in Boston. However Boston replied, much as they did in game 2, on Saturday night with a 97 - 87 win, thanks to a 29 point 13 assist display from Celtics guard Rajan Rondo. Game 5 will see the series head back to Cleveland, but after the 104 - 86 win the Celtics managed in game 2 in Cleveland, home field advantage means nothing in this series, which could easily stretch to a full 7 games.
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