Dragic was 2-for-12 in the first two games of the series. But forget about that. Dragic broke a Spurs opponent playoff record, a guy named Charles Barkley set it 17 years ago -- by scoring 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting in the fourth, and the Suns took another big step toward advancing to the Western Conference Finals with a 110-96 victory and a 3-0 series lead.
The Spurs led 72-71 heading into the fourth quarter before Dragic scored more than half of the Suns' 39-point supernova in the final quarter. The Spurs had advantages in the paint (40 points to the Suns 34) and second-chance points and battled to a draw in other usually key categories, and the Spurs' chances looked hopeful with an 8-for-16 performance from 3-point territory. It was the first time this series the Suns failed to crack the 20-point mark in a quarter. By turning again to their defense, and watching the Spurs miss 5-of-8 from the free-throw line, the Suns were able to cut the Spurs' 18-point lead through the opening 3:35 of the second quarter to four with two minutes before halftime. San Antonio shot 9-for-21 from the floor in the second quarter and was unable to make a shot for 5 minutes and 42 seconds while Phoenix went on a 19-4 run.
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