PHOENIX, Arizona (AFP) — France's Tony Parker scored a career-high 41 points as the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 115-99 win over the Phoenix Suns in game three of their opening-round playoff series.
Parker, who also handed out 12 assists, connected on 17-of-26 shots to surpass his previous best of 38 points against the Miami Heat on January 20, 2006.
"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."
The defending champion Spurs will look to complete a series sweep on Sunday in game four.
"It was a big game and we just learned from our past mistakes when we go 2-0 and don't play well on the road," Parker said.
"I think we learned a lot from that and me, personally, from those series where I had two good games and then game three and game four I was not really aggressive. So I just wanted to be aggressive and see what happened."
No team in league history has ever rallied from three games behind to win a best-of-seven series.
"Tony has been very aggressive and did a great job at both ends of the floor," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I don't know what else to say about him."
Tim Duncan collected 23 points and 10 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 20 points off the bench for the Spurs, who have sent the Suns packing in four of the last five playoffs.
"Tony was great," Duncan said. "They were trying to keep him away from the basket. He took the shots that were given to him and he knocked them down. It was great."
Said Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni, "Tony obviously was terrific."
Even though Phoenix was in desperate need of a win, it was San Antonio that came out hitting on all cylinders from the start in this one.
The Spurs raced out to an impressive 27-12 advantage through the opening 8 1/2 minutes while shooting a sizzling 72 percent (13-of-18) from the field.
After watching its lead get trimmed to 37-31 just four minutes into the second, San Antonio scored seven consecutive points to create a 13-point cushion on three free throws by Michael Finley with 6:50 remaining.
Parker's running floater in the lane at the buzzer helped the Spurs carry a 61-47 bulge at intermission. The reigning NBA Finals MVP led the way with 19 points at the break.
San Antonio put the game away in the third, extending its lead to 23 points and took an insurmountable 91-72 lead into the final period.
Phoenix now sits on the brink of elimination despite acquiring four-time champion Shaquille O'Neal, who was supposed to solidify the middle with his defensive presence.
Boris Diaw hit two free throws to slice Phoenix's deficit to 13 with 8:47 remaining in the fourth. But Ginobili and Parker hit consecutive thre-pointers to restore order and seal the triumph.
Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 boards and Leandro Barbosa chipped in 20 in his first start of the series for the Suns, who suffered their first three-game slide this campaign.
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