Spurs Stun Suns, Take Series

Once again, the San Antonio Spurs relied on a one-two punch to knock out the opposition. Only this time, the players weren't David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

Avery Johnson continued his sizzling playoff run with a career-high 30 points, and Chuck Person's 3-point shooting helped ignite a decisive second-half surge as the Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns 99-80 Wednesday night to win their opening-round series 3-1.

Johnson and Person came through on a night when San Antonio stars Robinson and Duncan struggled early against double-teams.

"We couldn't get anything going until Avery and Chuck stepped up," said Robinson, who finished with 15 points and 21 rebounds but shot only 3-of-12 from the field.

Duncan, the NBA's rookie of the year, had only 11 points and five rebounds for the Spurs, who pulled away from a 50-50 tie late in the third quarter.

But Johnson, who averaged 20 points in the series after scoring only 10 per game in the regular season, scored nine during a 29-6 surge that put the Spurs up 79-56 with 6:53 left.

"They are a dangerous team, and I didn't want to go back to Phoenix, even if they do have a nice restaurant connected to the hotel," Johnson said.

Person, who averaged only 6.7 points during the regular season, hit three 3-pointers during the key run and finished with 18 points. Overall, he was 6-of-8 from 3-point range.

"Obviously, I've slowed down a lot because my back has been a problem," said Person, referring to back surgery he had 18 months ago. "But coach has been limiting my minutes, and I was fresh tonight."

The Spurs led by only seven points entering the fourth quarter, but they opened the final period with a 17-1 run to break the game open.

"We had a good season, but we should have been more competitive in this series," said Suns guard Jason Kidd, who finished with 12 points.

With the Suns trailing 81-57 with 5:06 remaining, Phoenix guard Steve Nash committed a hard foul on Johnson, who then walked up to Nash and bumped chests. Players from both teams then started pushing and shoving each other before they were separated.

Johnson, Duncan and Antonio McDyess of the Suns each got technical fouls.

Kevin Johnson led the Suns with 18 points. Nash, who started in place of injured Rex Chapman, finished with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

"Going into the season, if you would have told me that we would be the fourth seed for the playoffs, I would have been very pleased," Suns coach Danny Ainge said. "Unfortunately, we didn't play well against the Spurs."

San Antonio will play the winner of the Utah-Houston series in the second round.

Kevin Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left in the third period, but Robinson then scored inside fr the Spurs and Person opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer as the Spurs took a 65-55 lead with 11:40 left.

Person hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:23 left in the third period and Johnson then hit consecutive baskets before Person sank another 3 to put the Spurs ahead 60-52 with 37 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Notes: The Spurs are now 5-0 in first-round series since 1984 when they win at least two of the first three games. ... San Antonio scored over 100 points in each of the first three playoff games against the Suns. ... The Suns have met the Spurs in three previous playoff series (1992, 1993, 1996) and are 2-5 at San Antonio.

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