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Phoenix took away Tony Parker's easy layups just like it wanted to. So he just made jump shot after jump shot after jump shot.

The smooth San Antonio point guard burned the Suns for a career-high 41 points along with 12 assists and the Spurs rolled to a 115-99 victory Friday night to take a 3-0 series lead.

This was supposed to be a spectacular first-round matchup of potential NBA champions. Instead, it's been a Spurs smackdown, with Parker leading the way.

"They were backing off on the pick-and-rolls," he said, "so I just took the shot, and it felt good tonight."

Everything felt good for the defending NBA champions, who never trailed in winning their ninth consecutive playoff game and 13th of 14, dating to last season.

"We possibly played our best game of the year," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

San Antonio can complete the sweep on Sunday in Phoenix. No NBA team has come back from 0-3 to win a series.

It's the first three-game losing streak for the Suns this season.

"They were almost perfect," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We didn't play well, and I'll take the blame for that, but you've got to give them a lot of credit. They played great."

Phoenix acquired Shaquille O'Neal to better match up with the Spurs, but the Suns are one loss away from being swept in a seven-game series for the first time since the Los Angeles Lakers did it in the 1988-89 Western Conference finals.

Tim Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 20 points in the Spurs' fourth consecutive playoff road victory and ninth in their last 11.

But Parker did the most damage, often on the pick-and-roll that has flustered Phoenix all series. With three different defenders trying to stop him, he finished 17-of-26 from the field.

The ultra-quick Frenchman scored 26 points in Game 1 and 32 in Game 2.

"Tony has been very aggressive and just done a great job at both ends of the floor," Popovich said. "He's just been phenomenal. I don't know what else to say about him."

The Suns cut the lead to 13 points twice in the fourth quarter, the last on Raja Bell's 3-pointer with 7:35 to play, but Parker countered with his first 3 of the game and the Suns were finished.

"We just played great. Sometimes that happens," Parker said. "It just clicked tonight. We played great on defense and everybody made shots."

The packed house in the Suns' first home game of the playoffs booed Popovich's "Hack-a-Shaq" tactics in the first half, but they turned on the home team when the Spurs took a 23-point lead on Ginobili's 3-pointer with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Phoenix, which was last swept in a series when Portland did it in a best-of-five matchup in 1998-99. Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points and O'Neal, who finished 9-for-17 from the free throw line, had 19. Steve Nash, defended ferociously by Bruce Bowen, had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting with nine assists.

Phoenix took big early leads in the first two games in San Antonio. The Spurs were in control of this one from the start.

San Antonio made 10 of its first 13 shots, including five of six jumpers by Parker. A 17-4 outburst capped by Parker's 22-footer put the Spurs up 27-12.

Popovich went to the fouling ploy, having Jacque Vaughn go after the big guy three straight times late in the first. O'Neal was called for crossing the free throw line on his first two tries, missed his next two, then made one of two.

Kurt Thomas, a surprise starter, converted a three-point play with .3 seconds left in the first quarter to put San Antonio up 33-19.

Barbosa scored 10 quick points as Phoenix cut the lead to 37-31 with 8:05 left in the half, but the Spurs scored the next seven points.

Popovich returned to purposely fouling O'Neal late in the second quarter after Brent Barry's 3-pointer put San Antonio ahead 57-43 with 58 seconds left in the half.

O'Neal made three of four free throws, but Parker's driving layup at the buzzer put the Spurs up 61-47.

Parker scored the first five points of the second half, including a three-point play that made it 66-47. Consecutive outside jumpers by Duncan put the Spurs up 70-50, and the boos began.

Notes: Columnists at both local newspapers said in Friday's editions that coach Mike D'Antoni's job could be in jeopardy if the team flops in the first round. ... The Suns' Grant Hill, nursing a sore groin, didn't start but played 20 minutes. ... Thomas, in his third start of the season and second for San Antonio, scored nine points.

The San Antonio-Phoenix series was supposed to be a spectacular first-round matchup of potential NBA champions. Instead, it's become a Spurs smackdown.

Tony Parker had a career-high 41 points along with 12 assists and San Antonio routed the Suns 115-99 on Friday night to take a 3-0 series lead.

The defending NBA champion Spurs never trailed in winning their ninth consecutive playoff game and 13th of 14, dating to last season. They can complete the sweep on Sunday in Phoenix. No NBA team has come back from 0-3 to win a series.

It's the first three-game losing streak for the Suns this season.

Phoenix acquired Shaquille O'Neal to better match up with the Spurs, but the Suns are one loss away from being swept in a seven-game series for the first time since the Los Angeles Lakers did it in the 1988-89 Western Conference finals.

Tim Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 20 points in the Spurs' fourth consecutive playoff road victory and ninth in their last 11.

But Parker did the most damage, often on a pick-and-roll that has flustered Phoenix all series. With three different defenders trying to stop him, he made 17-of-26 shots.

The Suns cut the lead to 13 points twice in the fourth quarter, the last on Raja Bell's 3-pointer with 7:35 to play, but Parker countered with his first 3 of the game and the Suns were finished.

The packed house in the Suns' first home game of the playoffs booed San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich's ``Hack-a-Shaq'' tactics in the first half, but they turned on the home team when the Spurs took a 23-point lead on Ginobili's 3-pointer with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Phoenix, which was last swept in a series when Portland did it in a best-of-five matchup in 1998-99. Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points and O'Neal, who finished 9-for-17 from the free throw line, had 19. Steve Nash had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting with nine assists.

Phoenix took big early leads in the first two games in San Antonio. The Spurs were in control of this one from the start.

San Antonio made 10 of its first 13 shots, including five of six jumpers by Parker. A 17-4 outburst capped by Parker's 22-footer put the Spurs up 27-12.

Popovich went to the ``Hack-a-Shaq'' ploy, having Jacque Vaughn foul the big guy three straight times late in the first. O'Neal was called for crossing the free throw line on his first two tries, missed his next two, then made one of two.

Kurt Thomas, a surprise starter, converted a three-point play with .3 seconds left in the first quarter to put San Antonio up 33-19.

Barbosa scored 10 quick points as Phoenix cut the lead to 37-31 with 8:05 left in the half, but the Spurs scored the next seven points.

Popovich returned to purposely fouling O'Neal late in the second quarter after Brent Barry's 3-pointer put San Antonio ahead 57-43 with 58 seconds left in the half.

O'Neal made three of four free throws, but Parker's driving layup at the buzzer put the Spurs up 61-47.

Parker scored the first five points of the second half, including a three-point play that made it 66-47. Consecutive outside jumpers by Duncan put the Spurs up 70-50, and the boos began.

Notes: Columnists at both local newspapers ran said in Friday's editions that coach Mike D'Antoni's job could be in jeopardy if the team flops in the first round. ... The Suns' Grant Hill, nursing a sore groin, didn't start but played 20 minutes. ... Thomas, in his third start of the season and second for San Antonio, scored nine points.

But the Suns didn’t have a healthy Hill while losing the first two playoff games in San Antonio, and likely won’t have him at all for a must-win Game 3 tonight at US Airways Center.

Hill didn’t practice again Thursday and had a precautionary MRI exam, hoping to shed more light on exactly what he’s dealing with. But he hasn’t been able to go 100 percent since over-striding during a fast break attempt 10 days ago against Golden State. His abdominal/groin problems are no better.

Shooting is painful for Hill. So are running, moving laterally and any other quick reactions.

Coach Mike D’Antoni said Hill won’t play tonight in Game 3 unless he is 100 percent, which is exactly what he said before Hill pronounced himself ready an hour before tipoff in Game 2. [East Valley Tribune]

After a first half Tuesday in which Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had scored all but three of the Spurs' 54 points — Duncan had 13, Parker 21 and Ginobili 17 — the Spurs were intent on finding a way to lessen the load of the Big Three in Game 2 of their Western Conference playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.

Before he sent the Spurs back out for the third quarter, coach Gregg Popovich diagrammed a play designed to get an open shot for Michael Finley, who had missed his only attempt of the first two periods.

With possession to start the second half because the Suns had won the opening tip, the Spurs got into the set immediately and worked it to perfection. Finley came off a pindown on the baseline for a wide-open 15-footer that hit nothing but net.

After Kurt Thomas rebounded a Shaquille O'Neal miss, the Spurs ran a second play for Finley. This time he nailed a 20-footer from the right baseline.

Suddenly, the Suns' defense had another shooter to be concerned about, and the Spurs had another option.

Before the period ended, Finley had scored eight points and the Spurs had turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead heading to the final quarter of their 102-96 victory at the AT&T Center.

The Spurs got a second surge from the bench in their third-period comeback when Ime Udoka chipped in six points.

"We were trying to get Fin's confidence going," said point guard Parker. "Fin and Ime got going a little bit in the third quarter, and that helped us a lot."

Finley was eager to get the chance to atone for an empty first half and thrilled that Popovich called his number right out of the halftime.

"I had a good look at the basket and just knocked it down," Finley said. "Coach told me to just stick with it. We know how this game is played. ... We know how to get out of ruts."

Udoka scored six-straight points near the end of the third, getting a putback basket, two free throws and a layin off a slick feed from Duncan.

The first-year Spurs player was shocked to learn the Big Three had carried such a huge scoring load in the first half.

"I didn't even realize that," Udoka said. "It's always good to take pressure off them so Phoenix can't hone in on just those three guys. Obviously, you saw how Fin came out and gave us a big lift. That got some other guys involved. Then we went to a small lineup and got running. You're going to get different looks if you don't have to set up every time.

"It's always good to take pressure off those three guys, because when it comes down to it, they're the guys that are going to be taking the shots when the game's on the line."

Popovich understood his three offensive stars would not be able to duplicate their first-half production, and that it likely would not be enough, even if they did.

"They were really important," he said of the play of Finley and Udoka in the third. "We need everyone to score. Bench guys have to contribute, perimeter guys have to help you win. The entire game can't be on the shoulders of your so-called stars. Teams win series because everyone participates, offensively and defensively."