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NBA Game Summary - San Antonio at Phoenix

Nov 4, 2010 - 6:04 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Richard Jefferson scored a season-high 28 points and Manu Ginobili added 18 points and five assists to lead San Antonio past Phoenix, 112-110, at US Airways Center.

Tim Duncan contributed season-bests of 25 points and 17 rebounds for the Spurs, who have won three of four to begin the season.

Jason Richardson scored 21 points while Steve Nash and Hakim Warrick supplied 19 points apiece for the Suns, who have started a season 1-3 for the first time since 2006-07.

"We just got to keep our heads up. We know this is not a sprint, it's a marathon, it's a long season," Richardson said. "We still got seventy- something games left. Nobody's got their head down. It's early in the season. We've got a long way to go and every game we'll get better."

Phoenix became the first team in NBA history to play its first four games against teams that won 50 games and made the playoffs the prior season.

Richardson's layup gave the Suns a 104-103 advantage with 4:18 to go and his dunk off a lob from Nash with 3 1/2 minutes left made it 106-103 to cap off a 9-0 surge for the hosts.

Antonio McDyess hit a pair of free throws to trim the lead to one with 2:02 remaining before Jefferson buried a three-pointer from the left corner to put the Spurs back on top for good at 108-106 with 1:38 to go.

Both teams missed on their next possessions before a driving Warrick had his shot blocked by Duncan leading to fastbreak and foul at the other end that sent Jefferson to the line. He knocked down both to give San Antonio a 110-106 lead with 43 seconds left.

Richardson missed two long three-point shots before Parker hit 1-of-2 from the line to push the lead to five. Grant Hill's tip-in cut the visitors' lead to 111-108 with 11.4 ticks to play.

Ginobili hit 1-of-2 from the line to make it a four-point cushion before a Nash layup with one second left to account for the final margin.

"You've got to score against Phoenix," San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich said. "Last year in the playoffs we couldn't score. Last year their bench murdered our bench. They still have a great bench but hopefully ours is improving over last year. We've got some guys that can score and are a little more athletic. That's where we really fell down last year and I think we have a chance to be better in that area this year. So we'll see if it works out."

The Suns missed 10 of their first 12 shots in the second half which allowed the Spurs to fashion a 67-56 lead with 6:48 to go in the third quarter. Phoenix drew to within 81-79 at the end of three thanks to a pair from the line by Richardson.

Phoenix raced out to an early five point lead but neither team led by more than three over the final 7 1/2 minutes of the first quarter that ended with the Spurs in front, 23-22.

Goran Dragic's reverse layup put the Suns ahead 34-28 with 8:44 to go in the half before the Spurs ran off 10 of the next 14 points to tie the game at 38- all on a Duncan make less than two minutes later. Again, the lead never grew bigger than three for either side over the remainder of the first half, which ended in a 50-50 deadlock.