NBA Game Summary - Phoenix at San Antonio

San Antonio, TX (Basketball News) - Tim Duncan poured in 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as San Antonio defeated Phoenix, 102-92, in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals at SBC Center.

Duncan hit big free throws down the stretch and finished the game 15-of-15 from the charity stripe as the Spurs grabbed a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 slated for Monday night in San Antonio.

"We come in here and we don’t want to play this style of game, but we are just taking good possessions," Duncan said. "We have gotten back with them great in transition and contested shots that they have taken."

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili contributed 18 points apiece for San Antonio, which led by as many as 20 points in the win.

"We had a good team performance tonight," San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich said. "As a team defensively, we did a better job than the first couple of games and that allowed us to be in a position to win the basketball game."

Amare Stoudemire led the way for the Suns with 34 points and 11 rebounds. Steve Nash netted 20 points, but turned the ball over six times to just three assists.

"There is not much you can do with him (Nash)," Duncan added. "You just have to try and stay in front of him as simple as that sounds. He is such a great player and he uses his dribble so well you just have to stay in front of him."

Joe Johnson, who played for the first time since suffering a displaced fracture of his left orbital bone in Game 2 of the conference semifinals against Dallas, finished with 15 points in the loss.

Shawn Marion continued to struggle for Phoenix, tallying just six points on 2- of-4 shooting from the field. In the series, Marion has reached double figures just once, scoring 11 points in Game 2.

Suns coach Mike D’Antoni had said before the game that his team started cold in the early moments of the first two games, and he hoped they got that out of their systems for this one. D’Antoni was also hoping that the appearance of Johnson in the series for the first time would aid the cause.

Instead, it was more of the same for the Suns out of the gate. The Spurs made seven of their first eight shots from the field to grab the early advantage. San Antonio, which never trailed, enjoyed a 38-29 advantage after one quarter.

The Suns sputtered offensively in the second quarter, getting outscored 18-10 in the frame to head into the locker room facing a 56-39 deficit.

"I just felt like we couldn’t find our rhythm," Nash said of the second quarter. "We got down a little bit and we lost our energy and enthusiasm and it took us awhile to get that back."

The 39 first-half points by the Suns, was a season low.

In the fourth, the frantic Suns battled the margin back to six points on two occasions in the final minute, but the Spurs were a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to put it away.

"I hope so, we want to end this thing," Duncan commented on a possible sweep of the series. "These guys are a dangerous squad. If they get a win they get confident, so we want to finish it out."