Dec

25

Mason’s Buzzer-Beater Helps Spurs Edge Suns 91-90

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap 

By and large, most NBA games televised on Christmas Day feature marquee teams and for the most part are competitive; Thursday’s game between the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns would prove to be no different.  Lots of lead changes with the star players doing what they do and do it well was merely the subplot to this contest as Roger Mason hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, lifting San Antonio to the 91-90 win at US Airways Center.

Phoenix was hot initially as they hit their first five shots to go up 11-0 on Shaquille O’Neal’s dunk and would lead 23-10 after Jason Richardson made one of 2 free throws; but San Antonio would rebound, scoring the next 8 points then would begin the second quarter with a 9-2 run to cut their deficit to 29-27 on a jumper by Tim Duncan.  O’Neal would then score the first 6 points of a 10-2 Suns run that boosted their lead to 41-31 on Grant Hill’s layup at the 3:35 mark of the second period; Phoenix would go into halftime with a 45-39 lead.

The Spurs would take their first lead with a 9-2 run, capped by a Duncan jumper, putting them up 54-52 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter; however, the Suns would score the next 7 points.  Not surprisingly, Spurs coach Greg Popovich used the “Hack-A-Shaq” approach, but to no avail as O’Neal made 5 of 6 free throws during the last minute of the period, putting the Suns up 76-71 going into the fourth quarter.

A 3-point play by Amare Stoudemire to start the final period would further push Phoenix’s advantage to 79-71, but the Spurs stayed as Tony Parker scored twice to give San Antonio its largest lead at 88-84 with 3:27 remaining in the game.  Richardson’s 3-pointer cut the Suns’ deficit to 88-87 with 3:07 left to go; after a bunch of missed shots, Parker was called for a technical foul and Steve Nash’s free throw tied things up at 88 with 1:01 remaining. 

Phoenix would take the lead on a Hill layup with 4.3 seconds left on the clock; after a Spurs timeout, Parker would drive the baseline, kick the ball out to Mason who was wide-open from the corner.  Mason would drain the 3-pointer just as time expired.  San Antonio’s leading scorer was Parker with 27 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and a blocked shot while Duncan added 25 with 17 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Phoenix was led by Stoudemire with 25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots while O’Neal added 23 with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 4 blocked shots; Hill chipped in 16 with 3 rebounds.  San Antonio (19-10) plays again on Saturday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies while Phoenix (16-12) travels to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder on Monday night.


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