NBA News

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LeBron James' stuffy nose was nothing compared to the congestion New Jersey dealt with.

With their superstar slowed by a nasty head cold, the Cleveland Cavaliers turned up their defense to beat the Nets 81-77 on Sunday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Cavaliers clogged up passing lanes, pushed bodies around under the basket and generally made life miserable for the playoff-tested Nets, who rarely got off a shot without a hand waving in their faces.

"Our defense was the thing that carried us," coach Mike Brown said proudly.

James, who came down with a cold while the Cavs waited around for a second-round opponent, sniffled his way to 21 points and Larry Hughes added 17 as Cleveland remained unbeaten so far this postseason.

The Cavs came in well rested after their four-game sweep of Washington in the first round, and they needed every ounce of energy to hold off the Nets, who pulled within 79-77 on Vince Carter's two free throws with 19.5 seconds left.

But James scored on a tough drive to put Cleveland up by four, and on New Jersey's final possession, the Cavaliers made a defensive stand that must have given Brown chills from head to toe.

As the Nets quickly worked the ball on the perimeter looking for a shot, they encountered a Cavalier at every turn. Up top, nothing there. Down low, nope. Inside, outside, it didn't matter.

And when New Jersey's Bostjan Nachbar finally found enough room to get off a shot with 7.9 seconds left, James blocked it.

"We understand that if we get stops, we're a tough team to play," Hughes said.

It was the type of fundamental, team-oriented defense Brown learned as an assistant under San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich and the kind he has repeatedly preached to his team that it must play in order to win an NBA championship.

"We closed the game like we should," Cavs guard Sasha Pavlovic said. "We played defense as a team."

Cleveland held New Jersey to 37 percent shooting and forced Carter into taking awkward, off-balance shots. The Cavs also dominated inside, outrebounding the smaller Nets 51-37 and getting 20 offensive boards.

Pavlovic scored a playoff career-high 15 points and Drew Gooden 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs, who will host Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Carter had 23 points on 7-of-23 shooting to lead New Jersey, but Jason Kidd, who averaged a triple-double in the Nets' opening-round win over Toronto, had just seven points and went only 2-of-11.

During a crucial four-minute stretch of the fourth, the Nets went 1-for-6 with a turnover, helping the Cavs open a six-point lead. Carter missed all five field-goal tries in the fourth quarter.

"We missed some shots we thought we'd make," said Kidd, who despite the shooting woes just missed a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine assists. "If we have those chances in Game 2, hopefully it'll bounce our way."

Richard Jefferson, the third wheel in New Jersey's offensive machine, added 16 points.

"There were some point-blank shots I should have made," Carter said. "If my team's going to trust me and put the ball in my hands, I've got to make them."

New Jersey relied too much on 3-pointers and went just 5-of-20 from long range, mostly a result of the Cavs forcing them out of the lane. New Jersey's point total was its lowest in 22 playoff games.

"It's one game," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "You don't overreact."

A year ago, the Cavaliers were overmatched in their semifinal opener at Detroit. It was a tough lesson to learn, but the players swore they would grow from the experience, and one game into this series it looks as if they have.

Cleveland's victory was a struggle. The Cavs shot just 40 percent and they couldn't open a comfortable distance from the Nets, who were within 77-73 with 2:03 left on a layup by Jefferson.

Kidd then made a steal and was on his way in for an easy layup when Pavlovic, whose poor defense in the past kept him seated on Brown's bench, ran down New Jersey's guard from behind and swatted away his shot at the rim.

"I thought he was going to dunk it, he didn't and I just blocked it," Pavlovic said.

Kidd took the blame for not finishing stronger.

"He made a great hustle play," Kidd said. "It was my fault, but that's what playoffs are all about, making plays at the right time. They made them coming down the stretch."

James didn't use his cold as an excuse, but it certainly affected him. At halftime, he sat on the Cavs' bench with his head covered with a towel and spent the final few minutes before play resumed blowing his nose.

During his postgame interview, James sniffled, coughed and excused himself for clearing his throat several times.

"It's the playoffs, you have to battle through it," he said. "No matter what it took I was going to be out there."

Notes

Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, drafted last week by the Cleveland Browns, received a thunderous ovation when he was introduced at halftime and presented with a Cavs No. 10 jersey. "It's overwhelming," he said. ... Nets minority owner/hip hop mogul/LeBron buddy Jay-Z sat courtside in seats normally reserved for James' entourage. ... Cavs G David Wesley wasn't with the team so he could tend to personal matters.

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With blood spewing from a cut on his nose, Steve Nash could only watch from the bench while the San Antonio Spurs put away Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

"There was nothing I could do," he said. "It was obviously frustrating, but it was really out of my hands."

Tim Duncan had 33 points and 16 rebounds -- eight offensive -- and Tony Parker added 32 points to lead the Spurs to a rugged 111-106 victory Sunday over Nash's Phoenix Suns.

Nash scored 31 but missed a crucial 45 seconds in the final minute because of the bloody cut on his nose, the result of a head-on collision with Parker with 2:53 to play. The cut required six stitches after the game.

"You only see things like that in a boxing match," the Spurs' Robert Horry said, "where a guy cuts his nose and it won't stop bleeding. You feel bad for the guy because you want to have the best team out there at the end of the game, and he wasn't out there."

Michael Finley added 19 points for San Antonio.

Amare Stoudemire had 20 points and 18 rebounds but was just 6-of-19 shooting. Leandro Barbosa scored 18 points for the Suns. Shawn Marion, after a slow start, scored 16, 11 in the final quarter.

The score was a bit high for Duncan's liking.

"We'd rather play in the 90s, we'd rather play in the 80s," he said. "That's our type of game, but we've got a lot of guys who are shooting the ball really well. We've been moving the ball really well, and the points are going up on the board."

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Phoenix.

After Parker stole Nash's pass, the two collided head-to-head in the San Antonio backcourt. Parker fell to the floor. Nash initially thought Parker was the one who was hurt, and went to ask if he was all right, not knowing his nose was covered in blood.

"I thought I was the one who was bleeding," Parker said.

Both stayed in the game.

Nash, with a bandage over the cut, made a 3-pointer to tie it at 102 with 2:25 to play, then Duncan gave the Spurs the lead for good with a 10-foot baseline hook shot. Nash missed a 3, then Parker sank a 23-footer to put San Antonio ahead 106-102 with 1:23 remaining.

Nash's driving layup with 1:13 left cut it to 106-104, and Raja Bell drew an offensive foul on Parker to give Phoenix the ball. But Nash had to come out with 54 seconds to go because of blood oozing around the bandage.

After Nash's departure, Barbosa missed a 3-pointer that would have given Phoenix the lead. Manu Ginobili made one of two free throws to make it 107-104 with 32 seconds to play, then Stoudemire's two free throws sliced the lead to 107-106 with 26 seconds to go.

After a San Antonio timeout, Barbosa was called for a foul before the ball was thrown inbounds. That meant Finley got a free throw, and made it, and San Antonio kept possession.

The bleeding finally was contained and Nash returned with 9.1 seconds to go, but by then it was too late.

Asked if he thought the Suns would have won had he not been forced to sit, he said, "It's impossible to say, but I think we would have had a shot. It was pretty bad timing, but you know that's life."

Nash was more concerned with what he perceives as a season-long tendency for the Suns to play less-than-inspired basketball over stretches.

"Very surprising, very frustrating," he said. "How many times can you talk about it? We just have to have a bigger heart and continue to push through these invisible barriers that seem to pop up. I don't know what they are, but sometimes we just don't play as hard as we should."

The Spurs dominated the boards 49-35.

"It was really an emphasis for us because they are so athletic and they score so much," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "We really couldn't afford to give them second-chance points. We did a better job of that than we usually do."

Neither team led by more than eight points in the intense contest between the teams with the two best records left in the playoffs.

Marion broke out of a subpar offensive game to score seven in the 82 seconds of the fourth quarter. His 3-pointer, followed by a fast-break layup, put Phoenix ahead 84-83 with 9:38 remaining.

There were seven lead changes and three ties after that.

Parker, who loves to play against the fast Suns and averaged 28 points against them in the regular season, was one shy of his career playoff high.

When the teams returned to the court at halftime, Suns coach Mike D'Antoni got into a heated conversation with referee Bob Delaney at midcourt. During the talk, Delaney turned called a technical against Suns assistant Mark Iavaroni, who was sitting on the Phoenix bench.

Finley's free throw on the technical ignited a 16-5 Spurs' run to start the second half. Parker scored six in the surge, capped by a 19-footer that put San Antonio ahead 67-59 with 8:05 left in the third.

After the game, D'Antoni was still grumbling about two calls -- the inbounds foul on Barbosa and one on Stoudemire late in the second quarter.

"There were some calls that just changed the complexion of the game," he said. "Now right, wrong, I'm not here to judge that, and I'm sure they had all the best intentions in the world. It's just we didn't get that break and they changed the complexion of the game."

But he said the Spurs deserve credit for pulling it out.

"These guys are good," D'Antoni said. "It's almost like a heavyweight champion, you've got to knock them out. We didn't do it."

Notes

San Antonio has won five straight playoff games. ... Marion turns 29 on Monday. ... It's the second time since 1975 that the league's highest-scoring team (Suns 110.2 points) is going against the top defensive team (Spurs 90.1) in the playoffs. The other occasion was the 2005 Western Conference finals between Phoenix and San Antonio, which the Spurs won.

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The Phoenix Suns have better players. San Antonio has a better team, at least for now.

That was the conclusion of Suns coach Mike D'Antoni in the wake of the Spurs' bloody 111-106 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

"I hate to say this and I hope it sounds the right way. I think we have more talent than they do," D'Antoni said after the Suns practiced on Monday. "I think that we're individually better. Collectively, they're better right now."

The Phoenix coach was mum on what changes he planned for Tuesday night's Game 2, but Amare Stoudemire spilled the beans on one big move.

"I think we're going to start Kurt Thomas," he said.

That would seem to make sense.

The professed reason that Phoenix acquired Thomas from the New York Knicks in 2005 was to give the Suns a rugged defender to go against the Spurs' Tim Duncan, who dominated inside for 33 points and 16 rebounds in Game 1.

"Kurt is a good defender," said San Antonio's Tony Parker, who scored 32 on Sunday, "so I guess they want to slow down Timmy. I thought he did a pretty good job on Timmy last night, and I can see why coach D'Antoni wants to do that."

Adding Thomas will slow the Suns, but will relieve Stoudemire of the burden of guarding Duncan. Foul trouble plagued Stoudemire throughout Sunday's game.

Parker and Steve Nash pronounced themselves ready to play on Tuesday after their head-on collision late in Sunday's game. Parker had a headache Sunday night and a bump on his head, but said he felt fine on Monday.

Nash missed a crucial 45 seconds in the final minute of Sunday's loss because a cut on his nose was bleeding profusely. On Monday, the cut that required six stitches was covered by a bandage.

"I'm not thinking about it," Nash said. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but I don't think I'll have any problems."

Of more concern to the two-time defending league MVP was his belief that there were times the Suns did not play with the intensity required for a matchup of this magnitude. The 33-year-old point guard knows that the window for winning championships will not be open forever.

"This is the toughest matchup for us," Nash said. "They've got size, sort of a collective toughness you have to deal with. They've got experience and they play hard. They're extremely disciplined.

"I'm at a loss to explain why we think that we can go out there and not outhustle them and outwork them and win games."

D'Antoni said the Spurs were mentally tougher than the Suns on Sunday.

"We all collectively have to pick up our energy and concentration, our mental ability to get over the hump," he said. "They put `champion' by their name for a reason. There's a lot of guys who will never be in this position again. I told them today `This could be your only chance in life to be a champion, so we're going to have to dig harder."'

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pointed out that a couple of plays at the end won the game, not some dominating San Antonio performance. The Spurs lost Game 1 at home against Denver in the opening round, then won the next four.

"It's not a desperate situation," Popovich said. "Good teams come back from losses in the regular season and even more so in the postseason. They'll be a heck of a team tomorrow night."

But so will the Spurs, who have visions of their third NBA title in five years.

D'Antoni said he again will start with the bigger Shawn Marion guarding the speedy Parker. Again, the idea will be to force the San Antonio point guard to shoot jumpers rather than layups.

"I would think a 15-foot shot is better than a 2-foot," the Suns coach said.

That didn't surprise Parker.

"I think they're going to change nothing," he said. "I think they're just going to see if I can hit shots the whole series."

Outside shooting was a deficiency for Parker when he first came to the NBA as a 19-year-old in 2001, but that's no longer the case, as the Suns know too well.

"Tony's put in the time," Popovich said. "That's what it takes. When a player is that dedicated to change something and to improve, it usually works for him."

The Spurs have won five consecutive playoff games and are 12-4 against Phoenix since Nash came to the Suns in 2004.

"If we put these guys down 2-0 going back to our house, it puts some incredible pressure on them," Duncan said. "It's incredible pressure anyway with us up 1-0."

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Yes, those usually frenetic Phoenix Suns can play defense. They proved it Tuesday night with a blowout of the San Antonio Spurs.

With Kurt Thomas assigned to guard Tim Duncan one-on-one and Shawn Marion shutting down Tony Parker, the Suns squared the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series at a game apiece with a 101-81 victory.

Amare Stoudemire scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Phoenix.

Steve Nash, playing with a bandage over his nose after cutting it late in 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 points for the winners. Game 3 is Saturday in San Antonio.

The Suns' most significant contributions may have come from Marion and Thomas, who was added to the starting lineup.

"Defensively, we were really good," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It started with Shawn and Kurt. Their work on those two guys was really good. Finally, we started clicking a little bit offensively. It was really a good effort. We just need to repeat it three more times."

Tim Duncan scored 29 points despite foul trouble for San Antonio. But the Suns didn't double-team him, and unlike Game 1, he got little help from his teammates.

"They decided to stay out of there and let Kurt deal with me," Duncan said. "So that's how it went."

D'Antoni's decision to start Thomas and have him defend Duncan freed up Stoudemire to concentrate on offense. As a result, Stoudemire had plenty of energy to counter Duncan's one-man show in the third quarter.

"I tried to hit a couple of jumpers to bring the big guys out of the paint," Stoudemire said, "but I said forget about it. I'm just going to take it to the rack, and that's what we did."

Thomas, meanwhile, added 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 28 minutes. The Suns are 8-0 with Thomas as a starter, but normally he has played a limited role off the bench.

"It's been tough on him not to play as much as he likes," Nash said. "At the same time, it's a tribute to what type of person, player and teammate he is that he can suffer a lack of playing time and then be able to step up in the biggest game of the season and play so well."

Thomas knows what he's expected to do whenever he is on the court.

"For me, I have to play defense," he said. "Especially coming into the league, playing for Pat Riley, playing for Jeff Van Gundy. If I wanted to get out there on the floor, I had to really stop some guys on the defensive end."

After scoring 32 in Sunday's 111-106 series-opening victory, Parker managed only 13 on 5-of-14 shooting.

Marion managed only five points, but his teammates and coach praised him as a key to the victory.

"Coach told me just go out there and play defense, don't even worry about scoring," Marion said, "so that's what I did."

Bruce Bowen also scored 13 and Manu Ginobili 11 for the Spurs.

The Suns took the lead for good midway through the second quarter and were up by 12 early in the third. The decisive blow was an 11-2 surge that began with a no-look, over-the-head pass from Boris Diaw to Stoudemire for a layup and ended with Thomas' inside basket on a feed from Nash that put Phoenix ahead 84-68 with 8:07 left.

Even though Duncan was back, the Spurs never threatened seriously again.

"The game was all about maintaining a pursuit and aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They did that in a variety of ways. It's disappointing. You have to have five guys committed to doing the same thing. It seemed like we had three, maybe four at times, but not five."

The evening didn't start out that well for the home team, though.

Phoenix shot 26 percent (6-for-23) in the opening quarter. Duncan, meanwhile, had 10 points and seven rebounds in the first, but just two points and two rebounds in his foul-plagued second.

The Spurs were misfiring, too, going 1-of-9 during an 11-2 Phoenix run to start the second quarter. Stoudemire's dunk, the Suns' first of the series, capped the spurt and put Phoenix ahead 30-27 with 7:12 left in the half.

Another Suns run, this one 9-2, boosted the lead to 41-35 with 3:06 to go in the half.

With a minute to play in the half, Duncan drew his third foul, on a charge against Nash, and Popovich got a technical in protest. Nash made the free throw to make it 46-39. The Spurs' Francisco Elson missed a dunk, leading to a three-point play for Bell to give Phoenix a 49-39 lead 25 seconds before halftime.

Bowen's 3-pointer cut it to 49-42 at the break.

Phoenix outscored San Antonio 7-2 to start the second half, taking a 56-44 lead on Stoudemire's dunk with 7:58 to play in the third.

The Spurs came back, cutting it to 65-60 on Bowen's third 3-pointer with 3:07 to play in the quarter.

Notes

The loss snapped San Antonio's five-game playoff winning streak. ... The Suns improved to 5-12 against the Spurs since Nash came to Phoenix in 2004. ... A local radio station passed out bandages for fans, including Suns owner Robert Sarver, to wear over their noses in support of Nash. ... D'Antoni turned 56 on Tuesday.

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For now, the Utah Jazz can focus on trying to keep a lead in a playoff series rather than having to come from behind.

The Jazz lead the Golden State Warriors 1-0 in the Western Conference semifinals after winning the opener 116-112 on Monday. It's the first time Utah has opened a series with a victory since 2001.

The Jazz had to rally after losing the first two games against the Rockets in the opening round and never led in the series until they won Game 7 in Houston on Saturday. So how will they handle being in front?

"I tell them to win every game. Sometimes they don't listen," coach Jerry Sloan said after practice Tuesday.

Utah won the opener against the Warriors despite playing at a tempo much better suited to Golden State. It was the most points for the Jazz in a playoff game since scoring 117 in the first-round opener against Sacramento in 1999.

Sloan is much more comfortable with his team scoring somewhere in the 80s and hopes the Jazz don't try to run with the Warriors again in Game 2 Wednesday night.

Utah took 23 3-pointers against Golden State. That's almost 10 more than the Jazz averaged against the Rockets, but still less than the 31 attempts Golden State took from beyond-the-arc.

"It looked like we wanted to shoot as many as they did. Some of them got us in trouble," Sloan said. "You'd better make those. We have no chance to recover defensively. That's where the problem comes in for us."

Sloan was understanding and in a pretty good mood Tuesday, likely because his team won the previous night. But he wasn't about to let his players get complacent because they lead the No. 8 seed by one game in what could still be a long series.

"By the time you think that, that's what happens. You have your ears boxed off the side of your head," Sloan said.

Utah lost the series opener in 2002 and 2003 to Sacramento and was knocked out in the first round both times. The last time the Jazz opened the playoffs with a win was 2001, when they beat Dallas in the first two games, then lost three straight in the old best-of-five format.

So one game in the conference semifinals doesn't make Sloan terribly comfortable.

"It really doesn't mean anything, I'll tell you that," Sloan said. "The first team who gets four, that's what counts."

Golden State doesn't plan to change much for Game 2, other than improve on the 54-36 advantage Utah had in rebounding. The Warriors invited the Jazz to try to run with them again and see if they can take the series back to Oakland tied at one game apiece.

"We know what we have to do in Game 2 to win the basketball game, and that's stay close and correct some of the small details that we didn't adjust to in Game 1," Golden State's Baron Davis said.

After beating top-seeded Dallas in the opening round, the Warriors aren't too concerned with a one-game deficit to the Jazz. A win Wednesday night would negate Utah's home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.

Even after a woeful night of rebounding, the Warriors had plenty of chances to win the opener. Utah didn't take the lead for good until Carlos Boozer scored off an offensive rebound with 17 seconds left to play.

"We did have a chance to win that game. We were right there at the end," coach Don Nelson. "I don't want to overreact on anything, but there are certain obvious things that we have to do a better job on."

Rebounding is the biggest one, but the Warriors also need to keep Utah point guard Deron Williams in check.

He went head-to-head with Davis and finished with 31 points and eight assists in only his eighth career playoff game.

"He played big. He won the game for them yesterday," Golden State's Jason Richardson said. "We can't let him have big games like that where he's scoring and dishing the ball out."

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Even shorthanded, the Utah Jazz outran the Golden State Warriors.

Derek Fisher missed most of the first three quarters because of a family illness, then scored all five of his points in overtime to lead Utah to a 127-117 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Jazz overcame the loss of rookie guard Dee Brown to a neck injury in the first quarter and had to rally to force the overtime after Golden State went on a 12-1 run late in the fourth quarter. The Warriors missed six free throws in the fourth quarter, three after taking the late lead.

Carlos Boozer had 30 points and 13 rebounds for Utah, while Mehmet Okur added 23 points and 18 rebounds and Andrei ***ilenko had 20 points, nine rebounds and six blocks.

Baron Davis had 36 points and seven assists for Golden State.

The Jazz, who won the series opener 116-112, again had to play at the Warriors' pace.

Game 3 is Friday night at Golden State.

Deron Williams had 14 assists and 17 points, hitting a crucial 3-pointer as Utah opened the overtime with a 7-2 run.

Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Stephen Jackson had eight for Golden State, which scored only four points in the extra five minutes.

The Warriors forced 23 turnovers, but were once again badly outrebounded, 60-32.

Utah had an 8-2 rebounding advantage in overtime, which Boozer opened with a layup and Williams hit his big 3 after stealing the ball from Matt Barnes. Williams took a no-look pass from ***ilenko and hit a 3-pointer that put Utah up 118-113.

It was an emotional night for the Jazz. Fisher has been away from the team for two days as his daughter underwent cancer surgery in New York. The team left him on the active list, a move that became dicey when Brown went down with neck injury with five minutes left in the opening quarter.

The 6-foot Brown attempted to take a charge from Barnes and the 6-foot-11 Okur landed on him in the lane. He had to be helped from the court and was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

Until Fisher arrived at the arena, Utah had just 10 available players. Two of them were centers Rafael Araujo and Jarron Collins, who never left the bench.

Williams got two fouls in a one-minute span the opening quarter and the Jazz were really hamstrung for a lineup to run with the Warriors.

Utah managed and led by as many as 12 points before the Warriors struck quickly and took over the lead late in the fourth quarter by holding the Jazz without a field goal for 4:17.

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The white towel draped over Rasheed Wallace's shoulder after the game seemed out of place in the Detroit Pistons' locker room, given the way they had just fought back. The Chicago Bulls might want to throw one in, though.

The Pistons dug in, putting Chicago in a hole from which no NBA team has emerged.

Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and Chauncey Billups added 21, and the Pistons rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Bulls 81-74 on Thursday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"We had nothing to lose coming into the second half," Prince said. "We stepped our defense up and more importantly took care of the basketball. We did a good job of rebounding. We got a couple of baskets to go for us and it set our defense up and we were able to get some turnovers and get some rebounds and we were able to do some good things."

The Pistons, who swept Orlando in the first round, will try to wrap up this one Sunday at the United Center.

No NBA team has won a best-of-seven series after dropping the first three games, and only three major professional teams have done that -- the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders and 2004 Boston Red Sox.

"We love a challenge, man," Billups said. "We love any time we can get 20,000 fans against us and we can start hearing the crowd boo us and the hecklers. We just take that challenge, man, and we love those situations. We thrive on those situations."

After blowing out the Bulls in the first two games at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pistons trailed 44-28 at halftime. They were down 49-30 early in the third and 55-38 midway through the quarter, and they certainly were hearing it from a raucous crowd.

But Prince, Billups and Wallace brought them back. Now, they're one win away from their fifth straight conference finals.

"Perseverance -- that's the type of team that we are," Wallace said. "No matter what the deficit is, we feel that we can come back from it."

Prince scored 13 points in the third quarter and Billups added 10. Wallace had a block in the closing seconds and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull Detroit within 61-60. He then put them ahead with a jumper just under two minutes into the fourth and added a 3-pointer that made it a five-point game midway through the quarter.

"I was encouraged. We knew at the start of the game we allowed them to take the first punch and we weren't as aggressive as we should have been," Billups said. Then he explained the comeback: "It was our defensive pressure. It allowed us to get in the passing lanes, get steals. We had settled too much. In the second half we got aggressive and played Piston basketball."

Wallace had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for Detroit, and Richard Hamilton scored 16 points.

Luol Deng led Chicago with 21 points, but was just 8-for-22 from the field. The Bulls were 28-of-83 (33.7 percent) almost the same percentage (33.6) they managed in the first two games, and again, they had no answer for the Pistons' zone.

Detroit used it most of the second half, and the Bulls shot 10-of-41 -- including 4-for-25 in the fourth quarter. And while Bulls coach Scott Skiles again downplayed its effectiveness, saying his team was "getting shots all over the place," Wallace had another view.

"That's just lying to themselves about things that we do," he said.

Chicago came up short at the free throw line as well, missing 10 in the game, seven of those in the fourth quarter.

"We just lost on our homecourt, so this loss hurts a lot more than the other two, even though we played hard tonight and fought hard," Deng said. "I think we played better today than last two games, but it's still a loss and it still hurts."

The Bulls outscored the Pistons 22-6 over the final 7:15 of the second quarter, turning a 22-22 tie into a 44-28 halftime lead. They led by 19 early in the third, but with the score 55-38 midway through the quarter, Detroit scored 12 straight points, eight by Prince.

Consecutive baskets by Chicago's Andres Nocioni made it 61-52 with 1:18 left in the quarter, but Billups answered with a 3 and Antonio McDyess followed with a layup. Wallace blocked Deng's baseline drive, forcing a shot-clock violation with 5.4 seconds left, and he hit the 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Pistons within 61-60.

His jumper just under two minutes into the fourth gave them their first lead since the opening quarter -- 62-61. And Wallace's 3-pointer made it 72-67 with six minutes left.

After a basket by Billups, ***k Hinrich hit a 3 to make it 74-70 with 3:56 left, but the Bulls couldn't get closer.

Ben Gordon scored 16 points for Chicago but was 4-for-16 from the field, while Hinrich had 13 points. Ben Wallace showed up at the arena about 1 hour, 15 minutes before tipoff and finished with five points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

"It's the biggest loss of everybody's life because it's the last game," Gordon said. "We had a 19-point lead and they chipped away at it. It's tough to lose like that."

Notes

Ben Wallace would not say why he was late, telling reporters: "I don't have to explain myself to nobody." Skiles, who was not thrilled about the late arrival, said: "Somebody said the traffic was really bad at that time. I mean it usually is in Chicago. I really haven't given it a lot of thought. that wasn't high on my list of priorities." ... Detroit shot 4-of-18 in the second quarter and 6-of-20 in the fourth. But the Pistons went 13-of-22 in the third.

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Phoenix All-Star Amare Stoudemire says the San Antonio Spurs are a "dirty team" and that Bruce Bowen tried to hurt him, nasty accusations sure to intensify the playoff series between two of the best teams in the NBA.

"He kicked me purposely in the back of my Achilles'. I almost came down wrong and he almost caused an injury," Stoudemire said after Thursday's practice. "He's known for doing that. I just hope the NBA and the commissioner take a look at that because it's definitely a dirty play."

The Suns' center, selected to the all-NBA first team Thursday, didn't stop there.

"I think the Spurs are a dirty team," he said. "I mean, (Manu) Ginobili during the regular season kneed me in the crotch on purpose. I just hope the league takes a look at it and cleans the game up a little bit."

The Spurs, who host the Suns in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday, had finished practice in San Antonio and the players were gone when Stoudemire made his accusations. Tom James, director of media services, said the Spurs had no comment.

The play that led to Stoudemire's charges came in the third quarter of Phoenix's 101-81 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday night, when he was going up for an open dunk. The victory evened the best-of-seven series 1-1.

Stoudemire said he didn't know at the time if the kick was on purpose, but decided after viewing replays that it was.

"When I saw the replay and reviewed it three or four times, there was no doubt about it," he said. "It was a purpose kick to the Achilles' and he definitely tried to injure me."

Stoudemire's feelings were heightened by the fact that he missed all but three games last season while recovering from two knee surgeries.

"I was actually very, very, very upset," he said. "Me personally from last year, having to sit out the whole season because of injuries. And for a guy like Bruce Bowen, who is a two-time champion, he should have more class than that, should understand what it takes to be a professional."

A video on YouTube appears to show Bowen, an NBA all-defensive team selection, kicking Stoudemire's leg from behind.

Stoudemire said he didn't react at the time because he didn't want a suspension or a technical foul that would hurt his team.

"I know it's the playoffs. I understand a hard foul," Stoudemire said. "But that wasn't a hard foul at all. That was just a purpose kick trying to injure someone."

No foul was called on the play.

Stoudemire said the Achilles' was initially sore but was fine during practice. Both teams took the day off on Wednesday.

During the regular season, the New York Knicks' Steve Francis was injured when he stepped on Bowen's foot.

When the teams met again in San Antonio, Knicks coach Isiah Thomas drew a technical foul when he shouted something at Bowen when New York's Jamal Crawford nearly landed on the Spurs' player's foot.

"I thought Jamal went up to take the shot and as he was coming down, Bruce's foot was under him," Thomas said after that game. "And if he were to come down on his foot, he could have broken his ankle or sprained his ankle and he would have been out, just like Francis."

In March of 2006, Bowen was fined $10,000 by the NBA for kicking Seattle's Ray Allen in the back.

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni downplayed the incident involving Stoudemire.

"The league's going to look at it and they're going to examine past tendencies and stuff," he said. "I have no idea what Bruce Bowen does. I don't really care. I don't want to get into it because it's so minimal that it's no big deal. It really isn't."

Raja Bell, also an all-defensive team selection, said he doesn't like to use the words "dirty player."

"`I haven't seen the play," he said. "Dirty is not a word I like to use about anybody. They play hard, their physical. It's a physical time of year, but I didn't get kicked. Amare has the right to feel the way he wants to feel."

Associated Press writer Elizabeth White in San Antonio contributed to this report.

[abadani69]

Led by the Suns, the Western Conference grabbed all the limelight of the All-NBA team on Thursday.

Phoenix point guard Steve Nash was an unanimous selection to the team and was joined by Suns teammate Amare Stoudemire on a squad made up entirely of Western Conference players.

Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, San Antonio forward Tim Duncan and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, the league's leading scorer, rounded out the first team.

"It's a tough conference," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.

Nash, the league's two-time defending MVP, received 129 first-place votes and 645 total points from the panel of 129 media members.

"You're playing with the best players in the world, and to be mentioned in the top group is something I'm very proud of," the point guard said.

Nash and Stoudemire are the first teammates to make the first team since Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in 2003-04.

Stoudemire's selection caps an impressive comeback after two knee operations limited him to three games in 2005-06. The center averaged 20.4 points and a career-best 9.6 rebounds for the Pacific Division champions.

"I appreciate everyone who voted for me," Stoudemire said, "because behind closed doors, it's been a lot of hard work."

Nash called Stoudemire's selection "a tremendous tribute."

"To not play a whole season and come back and be first-team all-league is just unbelievable," Nash said.

Nash led the NBA in assists during the regular season with a career-high 11.6 per game. He became the first NBA player to average at least 18 points (18.6) and 11 assists since Magic Johnson in 1990-91.

Former teammate Nowitzki, also making his third straight first-team appearance, led the Mavericks to an NBA-best 67-15 record. But he struggled in the playoffs, and the Mavericks became the third No. 1 seed to lose in the first round since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams and the first since the opening round became a best-of-seven in 2003.

It was Duncan's ninth first-team selection, most of any active player.

"He's able to focus year-in and year-out," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He loves the game, he plays it well and it's a real tribute to him to continue to be on that first team."

Cleveland's LeBron James, the top vote-getter for last year's All-NBA team, dropped to the second team this season. He was joined by Washington's Gilbert Arenas, Houston's Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, and Toronto's Chris Bosh.

The third team was: Miami's Dwyane Wade, Detroit's Chauncey Billups, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Orlando's Dwight Howard.

Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas did a double-take when told James wasn't selected to the first team.

"For us, he's our MVP and that's all that matters," he said. "There are not a lot of guys better than him, if any, period. There's nobody I would rather have."

The voting panel of writers and broadcasters in the United States and Canada voted for the three teams by position, with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

[abadani69]

Derek Fisher and Deron Williams delivered the majority of clutch plays down the stretch during Utah's overtime victory in Game 2.

They weren't even on the court for much of the first half in Game 3 -- forced to watch from the bench in foul trouble as the Jazz fell way behind.

And Utah never could recover even once both returned.

By then, the Warriors were already well on their way to a 125-105 victory Friday night to get on the board in the Western Conference semifinals.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan certainly will demand more from his top playmakers in Game 4 on Sunday night, otherwise Utah could be headed home with the series tied at 2 after leading 2-0.

"We need to play smarter and more efficient," Fisher said. "We turned the ball over way too much. Sometimes when you turn the ball over at home, at times you can get away with it. When you turn the ball over 20-plus times on the road, it makes life really hard."

Fisher finished with nine points on 1-of-6 shooting, no assists and didn't make his first field goal until 11:12 remaining, then fouled out late. He made all seven of his free throws.

Williams had 14 points, six assists and four rebounds while committing seven turnovers -- uncharacteristic sloppiness for the typically reliable point guard. Williams, Utah's second-leading scorer during the playoffs at 18.1 points per game, showed his frustration when he was whistled for a technical foul for arguing in the final minute of the third.

With Fisher and Williams on the sidelines, that left Andrei ***ilenko to run the offense -- not the ideal choice for the Jazz even though it worked in Game 2 before Fisher came back and after Dee Brown left with a neck injury in the second quarter.

"We were executing very well and then Deron Williams and Derek Fisher went out," Sloan said. "We had to play Andrei at point guard and Andrei is not a point guard, despite what some people think."

On the defensive end, the Jazz seemed a step behind all night. They had a hard time getting a hand in the face of Golden State's dangerous perimeter shooters and got beat down the floor by Baron Davis and company repeatedly as the Warriors dictated the pace of the game. Golden State made 11 3-pointers in the first half, matching an NBA playoff record, and 15 total.

It was Williams who hit the 12-foot jumper in the waning seconds of regulation in Game 2 that sent Utah into overtime in its 127-117 victory Wednesday. And Fisher's dramatic entrance in the third quarter that night after returning from the East Coast and dealing with his daughter's illness provided a huge emotional boost for his teammates.

This time, Utah was forced to turn to ***ilenko to get things going offensively.

"It is difficult," he said. "I lost the tempo of the game a little bit."

The Jazz lacked energy and passion Friday, just the way the Dallas Mavericks did during the first-round games in Oakland.

So far during these playoffs, opposing teams have done little right at raucous Oracle Arena -- where the eighth-seeded Warriors are 4-0 in the postseason and 14-1 since March 5.

Fisher and Williams combined for five shots and four points in the first two quarters, a big reason why the Jazz trailed 70-49 at halftime despite a 24-17 rebounding advantage. Williams played all of nine minutes in the first half and Fisher only five. Both were out for most of Golden State's decisive 30-13 run that put the Jazz in a 20-point hole.

Williams, Utah's top draft pick in 2005 at third overall, had 17 points, 14 assists, three rebounds and a steal in 37 minutes in Game 2. The Jazz will be counting on him to bounce back with another big performance in Game 4.

"We've got to settle down, keep our composure and keep hold of the ball," Williams said. "We've got to let this one go and put it in the back of our mind."

[abadani69]

When Baron Davis spun, sprang and threw down a breathtakingly vicious one-handed dunk right in Andrei ***ilenko's mug, it was more than an exclamation point on the Warriors' win.

It also was a question mark: Just how far can Golden State go when its point guard is playing such sublime playoff basketball, particularly in the arena that rocks to his beat?

Davis had 32 points and nine assists, Jason Richardson scored 25 points and Golden State stayed unbeaten in Oakland during the postseason with a 125-105 victory over the Jazz in Game 3 of their second-round series Friday night, cutting Utah's lead to 2-1.

Davis' mind-bending slam put multiple punctuation marks on a comfortable victory for the eighth-seeded Warriors, who lost two tough games in Utah to open a series few expected them to reach. They got back to their exciting style in front of the same fans who watched the Warriors beat top-seeded Dallas three times in the first round to the same 110-decibel soundtrack.

But after Utah cut Golden State's 30-point lead in half during the fourth quarter, Davis closed the door on yet another memorable spring night with his special delivery on shot-blocking specialist ***ilenko with 2:48 left.


"I shocked myself on that dunk," Davis said. "I was going to try to reverse it, but knowing he was a great shot-blocker, I thought I would just try my luck, and I got lucky."

Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday night in Oakland, with Game 5 back in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

Richardson hit four of the Warriors' NBA record-tying 11 3-pointers in the first half, and Al Harrington added 15 points as Golden State shrugged off two tough losses in Utah with yet another confident, free-flowing performance. The Warriors finished with 15 3-pointers while forcing 25 Utah turnovers.

But Davis produced a personal highlight reel in the second half after Golden State faltered, mixing spinning passes and jumpers before his big jam. Davis even got a technical foul after throwing it down for "acting the fool" in celebration -- but the screaming arena backed him up.

"That would have to be the greatest dunk I've ever seen with my eyes in person," marveled Richardson, the two-time NBA dunk champion. "It was like he put his whole body in the rim."

"I think I was late on the help," ***ilenko said with a grin. "At least I got to be on the poster."

Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who landed gracelessly in California after riding high from Wednesday's emotional overtime victory in Game 2. Deron Williams added 14 points and six assists, but Golden State stretched its 21-point halftime lead to 30 midway through the third quarter before the Jazz finally responded.

"You get into a groove, and they certainly were in one," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "We couldn't shoot the ball quick enough, which is certainly to our disadvantage. They were playing us strong and knowing where the ball was going to go."

The Warriors have lost four of their five road playoff games, but they're 4-0 at home in the arena where they went 30-11 in the regular season. Their 125 points were a playoff-best, as was their 15-of-32 shooting on 3-pointers.

Their playoff-starved fans -- replete in another collection of gold T-shirts that turned Oracle Arena into a big bowl of bubbling custard -- rarely were quiet during Golden State's first home second-round playoff game since May 12, 1991.

And while Golden State's effort improved markedly from the opening tip, Utah regressed. The Jazz committed 16 turnovers before halftime while forcing just five by the Warriors, who got whatever shot they desired during most of their 70-point first half.

"They wanted us to take jump shots, and we fell into that trap," Boozer said. "We weren't hitting. It was a great first quarter, but midway through the second, it seemed like it slipped away."

Derek Fisher, whose daughter's serious health problems forced his absence from the series until his dramatic return during Game 2, started for Utah but had nine points and no assists before fouling out.

The Warriors blew two late leads in Utah, but were revitalized at home as Davis predicted. Golden State made eight of its first 12 shots before blowing an early 13-point lead -- but Williams and Fisher both picked up three fouls in the first half, limiting Utah's defensive options against Davis.

Golden State gradually built a healthy lead in the second quarter with its outside shot, eventually tying the league record for 3-pointers in a playoff half held by four other teams.

"We got snowballed in the second quarter," Fisher said.

Notes

Utah G Dee Brown sat out after spraining his neck when Mehmet Okur fell on his head in Game 2. Brown could return Sunday. ... The Jazz went back to the powder-blue uniforms they wore in their Game 7 road victory over the Houston Rockets in the first round. Utah wore its standard dark-blue togs for the first three games in Houston, losing all three. ... The Warriors hadn't won four home games in the same postseason since 1977.

[abadani69]

Dirk Nowitzki has been chosen as the NBA's MVP for leading the Dallas Mavericks to one of the best regular seasons in league history, a team official told The Associated Press on Friday.

The formal announcement will come Tuesday at a news conference, said the team official, who requested anonymity because the announcement is pending.

Nowitzki and the Mavericks went from a league-best 67 wins to a stunning first-round elimination by eighth-seeded Golden State, with the big German quite un-MVP-like for most of the series.

Voting was completed before the playoffs.

The story was first reported late Thursday by ESPN.com.

Nowitzki becomes the first MVP in 25 years not to win a single playoff series; it last happened to Houston's Moses Malone in 1981-82. That failure is likely to be remembered more than the fact he's the first European honoree, and the first not to have attended a U.S. high school or college.

Nowitzki's victory also ends the two-year reign of his good friend and former teammate Steve Nash of Phoenix. After blossoming into star players together in Dallas, one of them has been the MVP all three seasons since they've been separated.

Nowitzki earned it this time by being the best player on the best team, leading the Mavericks in scoring (24.6 points per game) and rebounding (8.9 per game).

He was an All-Star for the sixth straight year and started the game for the first time. That was a first for a Dallas player -- as is this honor. On Thursday, he was chosen to the all-NBA first-team for a third straight year.

While Nowitzki's ninth season wasn't his highest-scoring, it was his most accurate. He set career-highs in shooting percentage on field goals (50.2), 3-pointers (41.6) and free throws (90.4); no other player in the league topped 50, 40 and 90 percent.

Nowitzki and the Mavericks came into this season driven by having blown a 2-0 lead in the NBA finals last summer. After losing their first four games, they dropped only 11 more. They won the most games in team history and tied for sixth-most in league history. They also became the first club with three winning streaks of at least 12 games, going on spurts of 12, 13 and 17 in a row.

But reputations are made in the playoffs, and that's where Nowitzki has looked so ordinary in his last two series -- the finals against Miami and the one that ended last week.

Pestered by smaller defenders who were armed with the insight of coach Don Nelson, Nowitzki's coach his first seven seasons, the Warriors limited him to 19.7 points per game on 38 percent shooting. His 3-point accuracy plummeted to 21 percent. In the series finale, Nowitzki scored just eight points on 2-of-13 shooting after having dramatically helped the Mavs avoid elimination in the closing minutes of the previous game.

The combination of last year's collapse against Miami and the Golden State flop have sparked wide debate about whether Nowitzki is capable of leading a team to a title. However, this award is a chance to reflect on the amazing ride that's gotten him to this point.

Growing up in Wurzburg, Germany, his father a successful handball player and his mother a former member of the national basketball team, Nowitzki was discovered at age 16 by Holger Geschwindner, captain of West Germany's 1972 Olympic team.

When Nowitzki said he wanted to get serious about learning the game, Geschwindner devised an unusual training regimen aimed at producing an usual basketball specimen: A 7-footer who shoots 3-pointers.

The Mavericks were wowed by Nowitzki's skills when he worked out at their gym before going to a youth tournament in San Antonio at the 1998 Final Four. They acquired him in a draft-day deal with Milwaukee, which had taken him ninth overall on orders from Dallas.

Playing for Nelson, a wizard of the mismatch, Nowitzki became a nearly 22-point per game scorer by his third season. He's remained at or above that level ever since.

He's already the leading rebounding in club history and is on pace to become the leading scorer next season. This season, he became a more reliable passer, averaging a career-best 3.4 assists per game. He even flirted several times with his first career triple-double. He's also become a solid defender, shaking the mocking name of "irk," as in there being no "D" in him.

Nowitzki turns 29 next month, so he should have plenty more chances to fix his current playoff reputation.

[abadani69]

As he stood by his locker, surrounded by notepads and microphones, Rasheed Wallace was in a hurry to finish this thing. No, not the postgame interview.

He wanted to end this Eastern Conference semifinal, and with a 3-0 lead over the Chicago Bulls, the Detroit Pistons can do just that Sunday.

"We're looking for that rest," Wallace said Thursday, after his team rallied to take Game 3 81-74. "We can get a week in. We're looking for that rest to try to keep guys healthy and keep guys energized."

No NBA team has lost a best-of-seven series after taking the first three games, and only three major pro teams have won one after dropping the first three -- the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders and 2004 Boston Red Sox.

Since 2003, the Pistons have won 12 of 13 games when they've had a chance to clinch a series, and Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince played key roles in all those games. The lone loss was against San Antonio in Game 7 of the 2005 finals.

"It's another game; that's how we are going to treat it," Hamilton said. "We aren't looking at it like it's a closeout game or anything like that. It's just one more game we got to get to get where we want to go."

And it's one big hole to escape for a Bulls team that has climbed out of a few in recent years.

Chicago started 0-9 in 2004-05, then finished the regular season with 47 wins and made the playoffs for the first time since capturing the championship in 1998.

A year later, the Bulls started 12-19 but made it back to the postseason.

And this season, with expectations soaring after signing Ben Wallace from Detroit in the summer, the Bulls started 3-9 on the way to a 49-win season and a first-round sweep of defending champion Miami -- their first series win since 1998.

"There's always something to come back from," coach Scott Skiles said. "I think longterm, that's how you build real professionalism and mental toughness and all those things. You've got to go through some adversity, or it's just too easy."

The good vibe the Bulls created by sweeping Miami is gone for now, buried under missed shots and one big missed opportunity in Game 3. After two blowout losses at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the Bulls led by 19 in the third quarter Thursday at the United Center, only to see their lead crumble.

Now, the Pistons are on the verge of their fifth straight conference final and their second straight series sweep.

"When you look at a team like Detroit ... they're experienced," Chicago forward Luol Deng said. "I think we weren't ready for that. This is the first time for a lot of us. Mentally, they're more prepared."

The Pistons are showing the poise and tenacity on defense that resulted in an NBA championship in 2004, although they're playing more zone now than they did under former coach Larry Brown.

The Pistons say that look has left the Bulls dumbfounded. The Bulls say that's not true; they're just not taking advantage of their opportunities.

Either way, Chicago is shooting 33.6 percent, and the Pistons' length and quickness is causing problems. They played zone most of the second half Thursday, and the game turned.

"That had to be disheartening for them, to have us down and for us to come back like that," the Pistons' Chris Webber said. "I (don't) know what their mind-frame is. I know ours, though. Ours is, 'Close it out."'

Skiles used just eight players in Game 3, and that included Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha, who played 9:03 and 4:32, respectively. One who didn't get in was Chris Duhon, who arrived late for a video session earlier in the week.

Skiles said it was simply a coach's decision. Duhon, who said he got stuck in traffic and called to let the Bulls know he was running late, wasn't sure why he sat.

"I just don't understand it," said Duhon, who appeared in 78 games during the regular season and started 30. "I've just got to take it and hopefully wait for my chance."

A more pressing issue for Chicago is getting Ben Gordon and Deng back into the flow, if not to the dominant level they were at in the first round. Gordon is averaging 12.0 points in this series, compared to 25.5 against the Heat. Deng, whose scoring is down from 26.3 to 18.3, is shooting just 38 percent and having problems with the wiry Prince at both ends.

An all-defensive second-team pick, Prince is averaging a team-leading 20.3 points in this series.

"Tayshaun has a way where ... it kind of seems like he's relaxing," Deng said. "Defensively, you fall into that. That's his game. It's hard, sometimes, to stay intense the whole game because he's so relaxed. He plays the game real calm."

It's a trap, a hole. And the Pistons have the Bulls in a big one.

[abadani69]

Amare Stoudemire's accusation that the Spurs are a "dirty team" should really fire up the already rugged playoff series between Phoenix and San Antonio.

Shouldn't it?

Well, it didn't appear to do much for the Spurs, who had their first chance Friday to respond to Stoudemire's comments and mostly said they weren't all that bothered.

"He can continue to give us fuel if he wants to, but honestly we're not going to play any harder or any less because of what anybody says," Tim Duncan said. "For whatever reason, I guess people don't expect people to play hard. It's not the regular season. We're not going to let people walk through us."

On Thursday, Stoudemire said Bruce Bowen tried to hurt him during the Suns' 101-81 series-evening victory in Game 2 on Tuesday. He also called out Manu Ginobili and blasted the entire team as "dirty."

"It was a purpose kick to the Achilles' and he definitely tried to injure me," Stoudemire said of Bowen.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called the whole situation "irrelevant."

"I saw the replay and it's obvious I did clip him, but to kick him, that wasn't the intention at all," Bowen said. "It was an unfortunate situation and I'm sorry that he feels that way. ... I have a lot of respect for him, so I wouldn't do that."

Stoudemire stood by his remarks Friday.

"My comments were made and they were positive comments," he said. "There was no negativity and no bad gestures toward players. Just being honest, and I'm done with it."

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said Stoudemire was just saying what he felt. Stoudemire said he did not talk to the league and Bowen said he hadn't, either.

"Whether it's right or wrong, that's for you guys to discuss," D'Antoni said. "But I listened to the comment. I don't think it was bad."

Ginobili said he was surprised to be singled out by the Suns' center, who along with Phoenix's Steve Nash and Duncan were selected to the all-NBA first team Thursday. Stoudemire said Ginobili kneed him on purpose during the regular season.

"It's a team thing, you don't want to leave Bruce alone all the time," Ginobili joked, referring to past accusations against Bowen. "We try to play hard; I don't think anybody's dirty. I don't know why he said it but I really don't have anything to say about it."

Saturday's Game 3 is sure to be rife with tension, at least for San Antonio fans, who will surely be riled up. But the Spurs said they're more concerned about making a few adjustments and getting Ginobili, who has had a subpar series thus far, involved.

Ginobili has averaged 11.6 points during the playoffs, down from 16.5 during the regular season. He scored just six points in Tuesday's loss and eight in the Spurs' Game 1 victory in Phoenix. Ginobili torched Phoenix for career highs of 48 points and 16 made field goals in a game in January 2005.

"I'm not making the shots, first, and then of course they're playing good 'D,"' Ginobili said. "I didn't play good the first two games, my shots were not looking good, so of course the confidence was not there. But as I said before, I just try to forget about it and play a more relaxed game."

And Ginobili's teammates are confident they'll get what they need from him.

"We're not worried about Manu. It's not a ceremony to revive him, so to speak," Bowen said Thursday. "We understand he's going to play well, he's going to do all right."

The teams have had three days off, and neither practiced on Wednesday. The Suns said they know what to expect coming to San Antonio, and even if they don't return home up 3-1, they don't want to head back to Arizona on the brink of elimination.

"They're going to pull out all the stops to win these two," D'Antoni said. "We need to get at least one. Should be a great battle."

AP Sports Writer Andrew Bagnato contributed to this report from Phoenix.

[abadani69]

Instead of worrying about how the San Antonio Spurs won Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, Steve Nash is more interested in why the Phoenix Suns lost.

"I'd like to give them all the credit in the world, I think they're a terrific team," Nash said Sunday. "But I know those are shots we make and are capable of making."

The Spurs took a 2-1 lead in the series with a 108-101 victory on Saturday. Nash doesn't think it will be hard for the Suns to correct many of their problems before Game 4 on Monday night.

"I shot the ball poorly, I thought we, as a team, missed a bunch of layups, fumbled balls and just didn't convert and finish. And I think we missed a lot of free throws," Nash said. "In one respect that's not very pleasing, and in another respect it shows that we're capable."

Getting Nash -- who was scoreless in the first half on Saturday -- going and keeping Amare Stoudemire on the floor longer, not to mention hanging on to the ball during key stretches, are improvements the Suns are looking to make.

"We're not going to beat them if things go screwy and we don't play great. You can't do that," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "And they're not going to beat us unless they play great."

Nash missed his first nine shots Saturday and Stoudemire, though he had 21 points, was limited to 21 minutes of action because of foul trouble. While they outshot San Antonio both from the field (49 percent to 44 percent) and 3-point range (53 percent to 35 percent), the Suns were just 18-of-27 (67 percent) on free throws.

D'Antoni said he's been mostly pleased with the Suns' offense in the first three games. Phoenix is shooting 49 percent from the field and averaging almost 103 points.

"We have enough good shots at the basket. We're shooting at a very high percentage for the series, we're scoring enough points," D'Antoni said. "We're in the framework of what we want to do. ... We're just going to have to make better plays at bigger moments."

But, D'Antoni said, Phoenix has to protect the ball better. The Suns had 16 turnovers -- Nash contributed five -- that allowed San Antonio to pick up 23 points.

"We just had too many turnovers last night, for whatever reason," he said. "And give them some credit obviously, but I just thought it was a lot of us."

Gregg Popovich and his Spurs think plenty of credit should go to Tim Duncan, who had 33 points and 19 rebounds Saturday. Duncan also had 33 points in the Spurs' Game 1 victory and 29 in their 101-81 Game 2 loss. In the last two games, the Suns' Kurt Thomas, going it alone against Duncan, has been challenged to contain him.

"He's so reliable. He's performing so good for long periods of time so it makes everybody feel more secure," said Manu Ginobili, who besides scoring 24 points Saturday also got a bruised eye that he said on Sunday should heal up just fine. "He's the guy that makes this team (go) from a good one to a great one."

Both teams said their confidence is up heading into Game 4.

"We're probably going to get their best game of the series and hopefully they'll get the best game of the series from us," the Spurs' Robert Horry said.

The Suns want to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole, but Raja Bell refused to call Monday's game a must-win.

"They've got to beat us two more times, we need to win three," Bell said. "Monday doesn't count for two games."