NBA : Suns sniff out win
The Phoenix Suns squared their Western Conference semifinal series with a bandage on Steve Nash’s nose and a second big man in the starting lineup.
With most of the Phoenix crowd wearing nose bandages in honor of Nash, the Suns blew out the San Antonio Spurs 101-81 on Tuesday night to even the best-of-7 series at a game apiece.
Amare Stoudemire scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Phoenix. Nash – who cut his nose and missed a critical 45 seconds at the end of Game 1 – added 20 points and 16 assists as the Suns beat the Spurs in a playoff game in Phoenix for the first time in five games dating to 2005.
Raja Bell added 18 for the winners.
Tim Duncan scored 29 points despite foul trouble for San Antonio, but unlike Game 1, he got little help from his teammates while the Suns spread around the scoring.
Coach Mike D’Antoni’s decision to start Kurt Thomas and have him defend Duncan freed up Stoudemire to concentrate on offense. As a result, the Phoenix big man had plenty of energy to counter Duncan’s one-man show in the third quarter.
Stoudemire and Duncan each scored 15 in the period, but the Spurs star drew his fourth foul and left the game with 2:56 to play.
Thomas, meanwhile, added 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 28 minutes. Leandro Barbosa added 13 as five Suns reached double figures.
After scoring 32 in Sunday’s 111-106 series-opening victory, the Spurs’ Tony Parker managed only 13 on 5-of-14 shooting. Bruce Bowen also scored 13 and Manu Ginobili 11.
Game 3 is Saturday in San Antonio.
Cavaliers 102, Nets 92: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 25 of his 36 points in the second half and the Cavaliers, drawing from tough lessons learned in last year’s playoffs, beat New Jersey to open a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
James added 12 assists and Sasha Pavlovic scored a career playoff-high 17 points for the Cavaliers, who later this week will head to New Jersey for Game 3 with a commanding lead in the best-of-7 series.
This is unfamiliar territory for Cleveland, which has never been up by two games in the semifinals. But with James around, anything could be possible for the Cavs, who have never been to the NBA finals.
The Nets had hoped to slip out of town with at least one win, and although they shot well enough (53 percent) to get it, they were outrebounded 49-32 by the Cavs, who also kept several possessions alive by outhustling New Jersey.
Vince Carter scored 26 points to lead the Nets, but for the second straight game he struggled from the floor.
Carter was 10 for 26 and missed two key shots in the final two minutes when New Jersey was still close.