Shaq, Suns shade Spurs

Steve Nash had 19 points with 14 assists while O'Neal collected 14 points with 16 rebounds as the Suns closed on a 14-2 run to beat the defending champion San Antonio Spurs 94-87.

 "We added size, let alone a guy with championship experience," Nash said. "(After) one win, we are not going to say we are a finished product, but we are on our way to improving and getting to feeling confident with the playoffs coming up."

   Phoenix acquired O'Neal from Miami on February 6 to plug up the gaping defensive hole in its middle and give the Suns a legitimate shot to get past the Tim Duncan-led Spurs in the Western Conference playoffs for a trip to the NBA Finals.

 However, the pundits thought differently and so far have been right. With O'Neal trying to fit into the lineup, the Suns entered the heavyweight contest with a disappointing 3-6 record while yielding a whopping 120 points per game.

 "When you lose some games, you get criticised, but we are smart enough as coaches to ignore most of the criticism," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Mike D'Antoni is a heck of a coach, and the criticism he got around here is just ignorant."

   Three days after his 36th birthday, O'Neal showed why the Suns traded for him. The 2.16-metre, 145-kilogram giant was a dominating force inside and held perennial All-Star big man Duncan to 17 points on six-of-19 shooting with 10 boards.

 "That's kind of why we did this," D'Antoni said of acquiring O'Neal. "It's not as bad as you (media) guys think and not as good as you guys probably think it is right now, but it's a step forward."

   "Everybody knows The Big Fundamentals game is great, and we've had many great battles when I was in the Western Conference," O'Neal said of Duncan. "If anybody knows what he's going to do with the ball, I think it's me."

   Grant Hill scored 18 points while Amare Stoudemire had 16 with 11 rebounds for the Suns (41-22) who stopped a two-game slide and avoided their first four-game losing streak at home since March 2004.

 "Defensively, we were great," Stoudemire said. "We got those guys to 34-per-cent shooting, which is phenomenal."

   Argentine Manu Ginobili scored 22 points, Frenchman Tony Parker added 21 for the Spurs (43-19), losers of two straight after Denver ended their season-high 11-game winning streak Friday.

 "We just put ourselves in a bad situation," Duncan said. "We were up five points with three something minutes left, a situation where we usually play a lot better than that. They played better than us down the stretch. It is something we are going to have to clean up."

   The Spurs led 85-80 but missed nine of their last 10 shots, committed two turnovers and were outscored 14-2.

 A Nash 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 40 seconds left triggered the game-ending flurry. Stoudemire hit the game-tying jumper and added three free throws, giving the Suns the lead for good, 88-85 with 1:57 remaining.

 A Ginobili floater pulled the Spurs within one, but he missed his next two shots. At the other end, Hill nailed a wide-open jumper from the right corner for a three-point edge. Raja Bell and Nash sank two free throws apiece to complete the scoring.

 Elsewhere: Sacramento Kings 114, Los Angeles Lakers 113:

   Beno Urih scored 25 points, including two free throws with four seconds remaining, and Kevin Martin added 21 points as the visiting Kings handed the Western Conference-leading Lakers their second loss in the past 15 games.

 Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (44-19) with 26 points but had just one free throw in the fourth quarter and missed a potential game-winning 19-foot jumper at the buzzer.

 Spain's Pau Gasol had 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Philadelphia 76ers 119, Milwaukee Bucks 97:

   Rookie Thaddeus Young scored 22 points to lead seven teammates in double figures as the surging 76ers rolled to their fourth-straight win and 12th in the past 15 games.

 Samuel Dalembert had 18 points with 10 rebounds. Andre Miller added 16 points and nine assists for Philadelphia (30-33), which shot a season-high 60 per cent from the floor.

 Charlie Villanueva had 25 points, and Michael Redd added 19 for Milwaukee (23-40), which is without injured starters Mo Williams and China's Yi Jianlian and lost for the fifth time in six games. Toronto Raptors 114, Seattle SuperSonics 106:

   Anthony Parker scored 23 points, and Rasho Nesterovic had 17 as the Raptors sent the SuperSonics to their eighth loss in the past nine games.

 Chris Wilcox scored 28 points, and Kevin Durant had 20 for Seattle (16-47), which shot 54 per cent from the floor but committed 22 turnovers, leading to 30 points.

By Paul Levine, dpa