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Right about now, the Phoenix Suns have to be scratching their heads, asking themselves, “What happened?”? The trade the Suns made for Shaquille O’Neal was designed to prevent situations like this; whether the trade down the road will prove to be a boom or bust proposition is speculative right now, but the bottom line is this: the Suns’ backs are against the wall.? Tony Parker played no small part in maing this happen; he scored a career-high 41 points, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 115-99 beating-up of the Suns?Friday night at US Airways Center.? San Antonio, with the win, now holds a 3-0 stranglehold in this first round, best-of-seven series.

The Spurs were hot early on, connecting on 10 of their first 13 shots – including 5-of-6 by Parker; a 17-4 explosion by San Antonio put them up 27-12.? Kurt Thomas, a surprise starter inserted by San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, made a 3-point play with .3 seconds left in the quarter, giving San Antonio a 33-19 lead entering the second quarter.? But Phoenix would rally back as Leandro Barbosa scored 10 points, cutting San Antonio’s lead to 37-31 with 8:05 remaining in the half, but the Spurs would score the next 7 points in response; Popovich used his “Hack-A-Shaq” strategy wisely, especially in the second quarter after Brent Barry drained a trey, putting San Antonio up 57-43 with 58 seconds left in the half.? O’Neal would make 3-of-4 free throws, but Parker made a layup at the buzzer, sending the Spurs into halftime leading 61-47.?

Parker opened the third quarter by scoring the first 5 points of the period – including a 3-point play – which put San Antonio up 66-47; back-to-back jumpers by Tim Duncan stretched the Spurs’ lead to 70-50; Phoenix would cut the Spurs’ lead to 13 twice in the fourth quarter, but Parker would connect on a 3-pointer, giving San Antonio an insurmountable lead.? San Antonio’s leading scorer was the aforementioned Parker with a career-high 41 points, along with 5 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals while Duncan scored 23 with 10 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block; Manu Ginobili, from off the bench, added 20 with 4 three-pointers, 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal.? Phoenix was led by Amare Stoudemire with 28 points, 11 rebounds, a steal and a block while Barbosa scored 20 with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal; O’Neal added 19 with 6 rebounds and 2 assists in a losing cause.? San Antonio, looking to put an early end to this series, plays again on Sunday at US Airways Center as they look to dispose of Phoenix.