Spurs wear down Suns, reach Western finals

Now it’s the Jazz on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s like a back-to-back. We have to get ready really quick,” Duncan said. “They’re playing excellent basketball. We have to be ready for execution and physical play.”

The Horry-Nash incident was just one among several that marked the series as confrontational, physical and nasty:

• Stoudemire early in the series called the Spurs a “dirty team” and said Bowen purposely kicked him during the Suns’ series-evening Game 2 win. Bowen said he clipped Stoudemire, but that he would not kick him on purpose.
• In Game 1, Nash, who had been on the receiving end of several blows during the series, collided with Parker and got a gash across his nose that required six stitches. He had to sit out for a crucial stretch in the game’s final minute.
• In Game 3, Bowen gave his critics ammunition when he kneed Nash in the groin area. Nash said Bowen told him on the court that the move was unintentional. The foul originally called on the play was later upgraded to a “flagrant foul 1.”
• Ginobili sustained a bruised and bloodied eye on a drive to the basket in Game 3.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures A kayaker flips out, a racehorse eyes the Triple Crown and more. more photos

Stoudemire had 17 points and seven rebounds in the first half as the Spurs took a 53-51 lead.

Midway through the third quarter the Spurs took over. Ginobili hit the go-ahead basket to make it 60-59 for San Antonio and sparked a 14-2 run with 6:18 left in the period.

Notes: A group of nuns, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, planned to pray for the Spurs in San Antonio ahead of Friday’s game. “Does God love the Spurs more than the Suns? No, but we love them more than the Suns,” Sister Geri Eveler said in a statement. “The Spurs are our boys!” ... Jeff Van Gundy, fired earlier Friday by the Houston Rockets, was an analyst for ESPN for the game. ... Duncan’s nine blocked shots were a franchise-playoff record.