Spurs, Duncan Drawing Line on the Suns

This just in from the shootout in the West: The Suns are shot.

The Suns got Joe Johnson back Saturday night but the Spurs got the real Tim Duncan, who came off three days’ rest for his sprained ankle to score 33 points with 15 rebounds, leading the Spurs to a 102-92 victory and a 3-0 chokehold on the NBA Western Conference finals.

Duncan, whose problems at the free-throw line used to result in fourth-quarter crashes, made 15 of 15 in this one as the Spurs ran up a 20-point lead and held off the fast-closing Suns.

Duncan’s free-throw shooting is just one reason this Spur team looks better than its 1999 and 2003 champions.

“Seems like it,” said Sun Coach Mike D’Antoni, laughing. “I hate to be the one that’s complimenting them. We still got to play them, but they’re playing very well ...

“You talk about [Manu] Ginobili and Duncan, they’re playing as hard as I have seen anybody play -- and they’re good on top of it. I don’t mind the bad guys playing hard, but when you got the good guys playing hard, it makes it a lot tougher.”

With his ankle bothering him in Games 1 and 2 of the series, Duncan took a total of seven shots in the two first quarters, making two. With three days’ rest, he came out looking quick and aggressive Saturday night, scoring 10 points in the first quarter. Suggesting the Suns still hadn’t found the secret to stopping them, the Spurs scored nine points, just in the first minute of the game.

The Spurs shot 61% in the first quarter and scored 38 points, but this game then turned into more of a low-scoring Spurs’ game than a wild Suns’ game. The Suns had scored 114 and 108 points in their losses in Games 1 and 2, respectively, so tormenting the defense-oriented Spur Coach Gregg Popovich, he said before Game 3 he felt as if he were “just along for the ride.”

Saturday night, Popovich felt better. It was the first time the high-scoring Suns had failed to score 100 points in the postseason. The last time anyone held them under 100 was April 15, in a 98-91 victory over the Clippers.

But the wheels came off in Game 3. After losing twice on their home court and seeing the Spurs go up by as many as 11 points, demoralization hit in the second quarter.

“I thought there was a stretch in the second quarter we weren’t on the same page and couldn’t get any momentum, couldn’t get any plays to stop their run,” said the Suns’ Steve Nash.

“Kind of put our heads down. We just can’t do that. We have proven in stretches we can play with these guys. For us to put our heads down just made it impossible for us to come back, no matter how well we played in the second half.”

Missing their last five shots and turning the ball over three times at the end of the half, the Suns watched the Spurs score the last 11 points to go up, 56-39.

San Antonio’s lead grew to 83-63 early in the fourth quarter, which turned out to be more than the Suns could come back from. They closed to within six, at 96-90, with 52 seconds left, but the Spurs kept pounding the ball into Duncan, who scored or was fouled and made his free throws.

Duncan shot 68% from the free-throw line as the Spurs won their 2003 title and dropped to 63% in the 2004 postseason. This postseason, he’s up to 78% and the Spurs are no longer so shaky in the stretch.

“It’s totally due to Tim’s work with himself,” said Popovich. “That sounds sort of odd, I guess, but he’s gone through this problem before in the past and he’s worked himself out of it, literally.

“He isn’t the type who wants to hear from a lot of people and five coaches and three gurus and all that.”

Johnson played well in his mask, scoring 15 points. Amare Stoudemire, averaging 39 in the series, had his usual 34, but Nash’s string of super games, in which he averaged 32 points and 11 assists over the last five and shot 59% ended.

Nash settled for 20 points, three assists and six turnovers. As D’Antoni put it, “Can’t be Superman every night.”

Game 4 is here Monday night. The Red Sox, who came from 3-0 behind against the Yankees last fall are everlasting proof it can be done but it doesn’t happen often.