1Feb/0812:42 AM

Spurs come back in the fourth to beat Suns, 84-81

By Steve Fan

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) The Spurs came back in the fourth quarter, making plays down the stretch, to beat the Suns 84-81 in Phoenix.

The Suns started the game ready to play and played some good defense all night long and did a solid job rebounding. Phoenix was able to build a double-digit lead, on two different occasions, in the second quarter.

The Spurs, playing without Tony Parker (who this year is clearly trying to avoid facing the Suns…) and home crowd favourite Robert Horry, were able to slowly come back into the game and actually took the lead in the fourth quarter.

The game remained close until the end and was decided in the closing seconds: a free throw missed by STAT trying to complete a 3-point play (82-81 Spurs), a couple made by Manu Ginobili (84-81), a Nash 3-point miss (84-81). That was it.

The Suns shooting cooled off in the fourth quarter (38% 27-for-71 on the night) as San Antonio outscored the good guys 29-21. In the end the Spurs were able to slow the game down, and limit the Suns to just 81 points (on only 71 shots), the lowest total of the year.

Ginobili led the Spurs with 19 points, despite a poor 3-for-14 shooting (but a perfect 12-of-12 on free throws). Tim Duncan added 16 points and 17 rebounds.

Phoenix missed 9 free throws in the game (22-of-31) and that could well be the difference, but the key was once again that the Spurs played the game they wanted to, they dictated the tempo.

Marion, fresh of his 2008 All-Star snub, led the Suns with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while All-Stars Nash and Stoudemire added 17 and 16 points rispectively.

It was a game in which both coaches and some of the players tried to argue each and every call by the referees as there’s certainly no love lost between the Spurs and the Suns.

In the end the Spurs found a way to win. Again….I am getting worried, more and more, each time the Suns play one of the best teams in the West.

The Suns (33-14) will now have a few days off, to enjoy the Super Bowl in Arizona, before resuming the home stand on Monday night against Charlotte (7 PM).

Yours truly, Steve Fan