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San Antonio's Tim Duncan swats aside a shot by Phoenix guard Steve Nash during Wednesday's Game 5.

The Suns were misfiring from the outside in the first half — Nash, Bell and Leandro Barbosa were a combined 5-for-20 — but they opened a 16-point lead thanks to the rugged play of Thomas and the masterful performance of Marion.

Marion had 22 points and 11 rebounds in just under 22 minutes on the court in the first half. He shot 8-of-11 in the first half, including both of his 3-pointers to lead the Suns to a 44-33 lead at the break.

After going 3-for-17 on 3s, the Spurs made three in a row, two by Ginobili, to slice the lead to 71-69 8:05 from the end.

Thomas’ three-point play and James Jones’ layup — both baskets on assists from Nash — increased the lead to 79-71 with 5:18 to go.

The Spurs came back again. Finley sank a 3-pointer, then Nash fouled Ginobili on a 3-point attempt. He made all three, and San Antonio finally tied it at 79 when Parker made a 17-footer with 2:29 to go.

The Spurs had to scramble to get past 30 by halftime, shooting 33 percent. Duncan scored 12 in the first half, but he had to work against the defense of Thomas.

With the crowd booing every Spurs possession, the Phoenix went on a 20-2 run to open a 24-11 lead on Thomas’ two free throws with 1:50 to go in the first.

“They did a great job of jumping on us,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “and we did a great job of hanging in there and showing some mental toughness and getting back in the game.”

Notes: Stoudemire missed a game for the first time this season. He was the only Phoenix player to appear in all 82 regular-season contests. ... Marion had 11 points and seven rebounds in the first quarter. ... The Spurs’ 13 points in the first were the fewest allowed by the Suns in a quarter in these playoffs. ... The Suns never have won a best-of-seven series that was tied at 2-2.

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