Spurs save best for last in taking 3-2 lead on Suns

	Kurt Thomas filled in down low, tallying 15 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes. John W. McDonough/SI

PHOENIX -- The result was marked by high drama and inevitability. Bit by bit the visiting Spurs had worked off a 16-point deficit to the undermanned Suns, who used a six-man rotation, until Tony Parker in his best impersonation of Steve Nash sliced through the defense to find Bruce Bowen in the right corner for the three that gave San Antonio an 84-81 advantage, its first lead since the first quarter.

That separation remained intact as the Suns inbounded from their timeout with 10.5 seconds left to Nash, who freed himself from Bowen only to find Tim Duncan (21 points, 12 rebounds) dwarfing him at the three-point line. David tried to lean into Goliath, but no foul was called, he had a foot on the line and the hopeless attempt caught nothing but glass.

The Spurs' 88-85 victory Wednesday gives the Spurs a 3-2 lead in this Western conference semifinal heading back to San Antonio on Friday.

Can Nash (19 points and 12 assists in 45 enervating minutes) and his Suns mount the energy to win there a second straight time?

At least they'll have their full team this time. But they'll also travel with the foreboding desperation of knowing that they've yet to liberate their open-court game, even when they went as small as coach Mike D'Antoni could fathom in this game.

The Spurs had been given an enormous advantage in size thanks to the suspensions of All-NBA center Amare Stoudemire and his backup Boris Diaw, the infamous casualties of a flagrant foul they did not commit. Phoenix was forced then to start 6-3 Leandro Barbosa at shooting guard, shift 6-5 Raja Bell to small forward and bring Pat Burke off the bench.

For his part Gregg Popovich showed up regally attired in a gray suit and splendidly moussed hair, like a high-powered lawyer fully aware that he needed to represent his impugned clients with the utmost dignity. His team accomplished job one, which was to continue to choke off the Suns' transition game no matter how small they went. The Spurs effectiveness here was registered by another disappointing line from speedy Barbosa (eight points on three field goals and four turnovers ), the reigning NBA Sixth Man awardee who has failed to provide much lift in this series.

Yet by the second half the Spurs were yielding their height advantage by going small too, and they quickly made up most of what had been a 16-point deficit in the second quarter. Midway through the final quarter, threes by Bowen and Manu Ginobili (26 points, 10 rebounds) had drawn them within 71-69. The Suns' position was not enviable.

For a time, however, the psychic effect of the suspensions appeared to have a positive impact on the Suns coming off their terrific fourth-quarter comeback in Game 4 at San Antonio. Instead of feeling pressure to retain their home-court advantage, the absences of Stoudemire and Diaw made it feel as if they were already trailing before Game 5 had started. To mix the cliched metaphors, they played like their backs were against the wall when as a matter of fact their home-court advantage had them in the driver's seat.

What this meant was an unsurprisingly amazing first half from Shawn Marion, who has emerged as the engine of the Suns. How's this for establishing the tone: 20 points (8 of 11 from the floor) and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes. Marion sank his unorthodox jumpers when he had to, drove to the basket when he could and defended Parker and whomever else was nearby to energize Phoenix on an end of the floor with which they were previously unacquainted. The Spurs shot 25 percent (5 for 20) in the first quarter while trailing by as many as 13 before they could gather their wits.

For all of the noise and emotional reinforcement of the early going it was only a 44-33 lead for Phoenix at halftime. It was their pity that they hadn't outrun the Spurs as much as they'd outworked them; as effective as they were defensively, the Suns -- apart from Marion -- were having trouble scoring, too.

Then the Spurs opened the second half with a small lineup around Duncan, who took the court with his familiarly stoic resolution to murder Kurt Thomas in the post while either banking in, laying in or passing for all of San Antonio's points during an 11-2 run out of the box. Just like that it was 46-42 with more than 20 minutes still to play. Amid the hostility and noise the visitors looked, as they often do, comfortable.