LOS ANGELES, 24 May 2005 — Brent Barry began the Western Conference finals by ending his shooting slump.
Barry drilled long 3-pointers on consecutive possessions during a fourth-quarter explosion Sunday as the San Antonio Spurs took home-court advantage from the Phoenix Suns with a 121-114 victory in the series opener.
Tony Parker scored 29 points and Tim Duncan added 28 and 15 rebounds for the second-seeded Spurs, who beat the top-seeded Suns at their own run-and-gun game. Barry had a lot to do with that, scoring 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting as he shook off a bad series against Seattle, where he has spent the last five seasons.
“(The) Seattle series mentally was very difficult for me just trying to find a rhythm,” said Barry, who averaged just 5.7 points against Seattle. “Tonight I just had some open opportunities and knocked them down. That’s what I am here to do and the rest of our bench is here to do. You can’t win a championship without a good bench.”
The Suns may be finding that out. With swingman Joe Johnson still sidelined by a fractured orbital bone and starters Shawn Marion and Quentin Richardson struggling, Phoenix’s bench was outscored, 33-14.
“To beat this team, who is the best team in the NBA, we’re going to have to play our best basketball,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We did not do that tonight.”
Despite their struggles, the Suns still held an 88-87 lead midway through the final period.
