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Spurs tries to sweep Suns

Apr 27, 2008 - 1:11 PM San Antonio at Phoenix 3:30 pm EDT Western Conference first round Spurs lead, 3-0

PHOENIX (Ticker) - The San Antonio Spurs are on the verge inching one step closer to defending their NBA title.

The reigning champion Spurs will try to complete a surprising first-round sweep when they visit the Phoenix Suns in Game Four of their Western Conference series Sunday.

Behind a career-high 41 points and 12 assists from speedy guard Tony Parker, San Antonio took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series with a 115-99 victory on Friday.

"My shot felt good so I wanted to keep shooting," Parker said. "They were backing off on the pick and rolls, so I took every shot. We played great basketball and sometimes that happens it just clicked. We knew coming in to Phoenix that we can't allow us to have a bad start, so I took it upon myself to be very aggressive in the beginning to make sure we had a good start."

Last season's NBA Finals MVP, the 25-year-old Frenchman has been almost unstoppable in this series. He is averaging 33.0 points and 8.0 assists.

"Tony has been very aggressive and has done a great job," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He has been phenomenal."

Tim Duncan collected 23 points and 10 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 20 for San Antonio, which has eliminated Phoenix from the postseason four of the last five seasons.

The Suns will need more than luck to pull out the series, as no team has never rallied from three games behind to capture a best-of-seven series in league history.

"If we can get one game and take it from there - but it has never been done before," Phoenix center Shaquille O'Neal said. "They played well and I feel that we didn't really get up into them. We are definitely in a hole, but if we can win one game, then we can see what will happen."

Phoenix has not been swept in a best-of-seven series since the Los Angeles Lakers did so during the 1988-89 season in the West finals.

All-Star Amare Stoudemire continues to be the lone star for the Suns in the series, averaging 31.3 points while shooting over 50 percent.

"Now my mind-set is to try and get a win," Stoudemire said. "That's the name of the game. I'm never one to give up; we have been in this place before."