Suns 101, Spurs 94PHOENIX -- With Todd Day the unlikely hero, the Phoenix Suns are on the brink of sending the defending NBA champions home in the first round of the playoffs.
Day scored all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter and Penny Hardaway had his first playoff triple double Saturday as the Suns, down by 10 points at the end of the third period, rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 101-94.
Phoenix leads the best-of-five series 2-1 and can clinch it with a homecourt victory in Game 4 Tuesday night.
As Tim Duncan again sat and watched in street clothes, David Robinson almost singlehandedly kept the Spurs alive with 37 points, three short of his career playoff high, and 13 rebounds.
Hardaway had 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds -- only his fourth career triple double. Day, who played 13 minutes and scored six points in the first two games, was 4-for-9 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line with four rebounds, three offensive.
Six Suns scored in double figures. Shawn Marion had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Rodney Rogers scored 15 points, Cliff Robinson 14 and Kevin Johnson 10.
Cliff Robinson also defended the much bigger David Robinson through the fourth quarter, when the Spurs' big man managed only four points.
San Antonio scored the last 10 points of the third quarter to lead 79-69.
Day's tip-in cut it to 87-86, then he hit the first of two free throws to tie it at 87 with 4:26 to play. The second free throw misfired, but Cliff Robinson tipped the ball back out to Day, who hit a 3-pointer to put Phoenix ahead 90-87 with 3:16 remaining.
Mario Elie's 3-pointer with 1:36 to go tied it one last time at 94-94. But Day hit his third 3-pointer with 1:19 to go to make it 97-94. Cliff Robinson added an inside basket to make it 99-94, then blocked Samaki Walker's inside shot. Robinson made one of two free throws with 30.9 seconds left, and Hardaway made one of two with 22 seconds remaining to ice the victory.
Duncan has had limited workouts this week, but coach Gregg Popovich announced before the game that he wouldn't play. Duncan, the MVP of last year's NBA Finals, missed the last four games of the regular season and all three playoff games with torn cartilage in his left knee.
The Spurs scored the first 11 points of the game and were up 23-11 on Terry Porter's third 3-pointer with 2:47 left in the quarter.
But Johnson came off the bench to replace Randy Livingston at point guard, and the Suns took off on a 22-8 run. Rogers' tip-in just before the buzzer put Phoenix up 50-49 at halftime.
With Jerome Kersey out with a dislocated foot and Duncan in street clothes, the Spurs were down to 10 players, then Duncan's two replacements, Walker and Malik Rose, each drew three fouls in the first half.