Associated Press
PHOENIX ó Roger Mason didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter until there were 4.3 seconds left. Then he came in and made the biggest shot of the game.
Mason’s 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer Thursday gave the San Antonio Spurs a 91-90 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
“As a shooter, you’re always prepared,” Mason said. “Coach put me in in that situation, and I knew if I had it, I was going to shoot it.”
The Suns had taken the lead on Grant Hill’s layup on an out-of-bounds play with 4.3 seconds to go.
After a timeout, Tony Parker drove toward the basket for San Antonio and threw to Mason, who was wide open because defender Jason Richardson had sagged toward the basket.
“As I beat Grant Hill, Jason Richardson came in,” Parker said. “Roger was wide open, and that’s his shot. He’s been knocking them down all season, so I trusted him.”
Parker scored 27 and Tim Duncan had 25 points and 17 rebounds as the Spurs won their fourth straight. Amare Stoudemire had 25 points and 13 rebounds and Shaquille O’Neal 23 points and 12 boards for the Suns, who led most of the afternoon but never by more than eight in the second half.
Despite foul trouble, Duncan stopped Stoudemire on three straight late drives to the basket.
“I thought Timmy down the stretch was absolutely spectacular,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “With five fouls, the defense he played down low when they were going at him ó making the stop, getting the rebound and getting it out ó I thought he was just magnificent.”
Duncan knew the Suns would go after him “no matter who I was guarding, whether it was Shaq or Amare.”