Paul Connors / AP /

Phoenix's Steve Nash makes a pass during the Suns' 101-81 win over the Spurs on Tuesday.

The Suns took the lead for good midway through the second quarter and were up by 12 early in the third. The decisive blow was an 11-2 surge that began with a no-look, over-the-head pass from Boris Diaw to Stoudemire for a layup and ended with Thomas’ inside basket on a feed from Nash that put Phoenix ahead 84-68 with 8:07 left.

Even though Duncan was back, the Spurs never threatened seriously again.

“The game was all about maintaining a pursuit and aggressiveness,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They did that in a variety of ways. It’s disappointing. You have to have five guys committed to doing the same thing. It seemed like we had three, maybe four at times, but not five.”

The evening didn’t start out that well for the home team, though.

Phoenix shot 26 percent (6-for-23) in the opening quarter. Duncan, meanwhile, had 10 points and seven rebounds in the first, but just two points and two rebounds in his foul-plagued second.

The Spurs were misfiring, too, going 1-of-9 during an 11-2 Phoenix run to start the second quarter. Stoudemire’s dunk, the Suns’ first of the series, capped the spurt and put Phoenix ahead 30-27 with 7:12 left in the half.

Another Suns run, this one 9-2, boosted the lead to 41-35 with 3:06 to go in the half.

With a minute to play in the half, Duncan drew his third foul, on a charge against Nash, and Popovich got a technical in protest. Nash made the free throw to make it 46-39. The Spurs’ Francisco Elson missed a dunk, leading to a three-point play for Bell to give Phoenix a 49-39 lead 25 seconds before halftime.

Bowen’s 3-pointer cut it to 49-42 at the break.

Phoenix outscored San Antonio 7-2 to start the second half, taking a 56-44 lead on Stoudemire’s dunk with 7:58 to play in the third.

The Spurs came back, cutting it to 65-60 on Bowen’s third 3-pointer with 3:07 to play in the quarter.

Notes: The loss snapped San Antonio’s five-game playoff winning streak. ... The Suns improved to 5-12 against the Spurs since Nash came to Phoenix in 2004. ... A local radio station passed out bandages for fans, including Suns owner Robert Sarver, to wear over their noses in support of Nash. ... D’Antoni turned 56 on Tuesday.

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