Diaw keeps Suns alive
A Frenchman put Phoenix on the brink of elimination, another brought the Suns back to life.
Boris Diaw fell two assists shy of a triple-double Sunday at Phoenix and the Suns avoided a first-round sweep at the hands of San Antonio with a 105-86 rout of the Spurs to push the best-of-7 series to 3-1.
Diaw, starting in place of injured Grant Hill, had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in one of the best playoff performances of his career.
“I trust him. I always have,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I think he’s a heck of a basketball player. He’s been maligned here a little bit, but he can play. He stepped up big.”
Diaw also played tough defense on his good friend and fellow Frenchman Tony Parker, who scored 18 points after a career-high 41 in San Antonio’s 115-99 victory Friday night in Game 3.
“I think they kind of relaxed being up 3-0,” Diaw said, “but we came out and played, too. We didn’t come out like the series was over. We came out fired up.”
No one was more aggressive than Raja Bell, who scored 21 of his 27 points in a dominant first half to help Phoenix bring a one-sided end to the defending NBA champions’ nine-game playoff winning streak. The Suns were 11-0 in the regular season when Bell scored at least 20.
The Suns won in a blowout even though Amare Stoudemire scored just seven points and Steve Nash had four assists.
Nash and Leandro Barbosa scored 15 apiece for the Suns. Shaquille O’Neal had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Duncan scored 14 and Manu Ginobili 10 for the Spurs.
Cavaliers 100, Wizards 97: At Washington, King James got his crown knocked off, was booed every time he touched the ball, went 0 for 3 in the fourth quarter and passed up a chance to take the winning shot.
And Cleveland still beat the Wizards.
LeBron James had 34 points and 12 rebounds, and dished the ball to Delonte West for a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left, helping the Cavaliers get past Washington to take a 3-1 lead in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference playoff series.
Cleveland led by 15 in the third quarter, but Washington came back, with Gilbert Arenas capping the rally.
He made two free throws with 57 seconds left to get Washington within two points, and after James missed a jumper, Arenas’ 8-foot fadeaway with 28 seconds remaining made it 97-all. James dribbled out the clock before finding West, whose career playoff-high 21 points included five of Cleveland’s 13 3-pointers.
Arenas, who built a reputation for clutch late-game performances before having two operations on his left knee, then tried to pull Washington even at the buzzer, but badly missed a 3 try over West.
Pistons 93, 76ers 84: At Philadelphia, Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and made all but one shot from the field, and Detroit played with a purpose and dominated the second half to beat the 76ers, tying the best-of-7 Eastern Conference playoff series at 2-2.
Prince shot 11 for 12 from the floor, Rasheed Wallace finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Richard Hamilton bounced back from a 1 for 10 first half to finish with 18 points. Billups also scored 18 points.
Samuel Dalembert had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Andre Miller and Willie Green each scored 13 points.
Hornets 97, Mavericks 84: At Dallas, David West let out his pent-up frustration over a poor Game 3 with a determined effort in Game 4, scoring 10 of his 24 points in a quick stretch early in the second half to help New Orleans pull away for a victory over the Mavs and a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.
Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Jason Terry scored 20 points, but they didn’t get much help. Josh Howard was 3 for 16 and Jason Kidd had only three points, three assists and four rebounds before getting ejected with 7:16 left for a flagrant foul on Jannero Pargo.
West was 10 of 21, but the most important part came at the start of the second half, when New Orleans turned a 48-44 halftime lead into a 64-51 advantage.
West made all four shots he took in that spurt and added a pair of free throws. In Game 3, West started 3 of 14 shooting and finished 6 of 20.