McDyess and Suns Rise Up, Stop the Spurs and Even Series

The Phoenix Suns salvaged a home game and tied their series with San Antonio, and the main reason was Antonio McDyess making Tim Duncan look like a rookie again.

McDyess had 21 points and 11 rebounds and limited Duncan to half of his Game 1 scoring output as Phoenix beat San Antonio, 108-101, on Saturday to even their Western Conference playoff series at 1-1.

“First game it was all about Tim and David [Robinson],” McDyess said. “They played great. I didn’t want to take it personal, but, you know, there was so much hype about how Tim is going to come out and do this or do that. He’s a great player, but it was all about him, and I just wanted to take all the good things he was doing away from him.”

Duncan, the Spurs’ sensational rookie, looked like a playoff veteran in Game 1, scoring 32 points as San Antonio won, 102-96. On Saturday, Duncan had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, but he also had six turnovers.

McDyess, who left college after his sophomore season, is not much older than Duncan, and the Suns maintain he has the same potential for superstardom.

“He’s just as quick as Duncan, if not quicker, and he gets up fast,” teammate Mark Bryant said. “He’s crushing the shot every time he shoots [eight of 14], so he played great. I think he’s accepted the challenge.”

The series moves to San Antonio for games Monday and Wednesday. If a fifth game is needed, it will be played next Sunday.

Bryant rebounded two missed three-point shots in the last eight seconds and converted them into four free throws as Phoenix finished off the Spurs. Bryant finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, and George McCloud had 22 points, making his first six six-point attempts.

Rex Chapman, the Suns’ leading scorer at 15.9 points a game, had 16 points but looked rusty in missing nine of 14 shots. Chapman sat out the last three regular-season games and the playoff opener because of a hamstring pull.

Robinson had 23 points and 16 rebounds.

Charlotte 92, Atlanta 85--The Hornets’ Anthony Mason wasn’t talking after the game. He had already made quite a statement with what he did to the Atlanta Hawks.

Mason scored 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting and helped the Hornets overcome the absence of top offensive threat Glen Rice in the fourth quarter in Charlotte’s victory at Charlotte, N.C.

“Mason is an animal,” Rice said. “That guy can pretty much take over a game whenever he wants to. He had a great, great game tonight.”

With Rice sitting on the bench because of his fifth foul, Mason teamed with David Wesley to power a 13-3 run that sent the Hornets to a 2-0 series lead. Mason had nine points and Wesley four in the surge, which put the Hornets up by 10 with 2:37 left.

Only five teams in NBA history have rebounded from 2-0 deficits to win a best-of-five series. The last was the Denver Nuggets in 1994.

Rice finished with 24 points and a season-high 13 rebounds and Wesley added 18 points and six assists for the Hornets in a physical game peppered with 52 personal fouls.

Indiana 92, Cleveland 86--Reggie Miller’s 18 points led a balanced attack as the Pacers came back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Cavaliers at Indianapolis.

The victory gave Indiana a 2-0 series lead. The third game will be Monday nigh in Cleveland.

“It was a struggle. We took a hell of a shot, but we’re still standing,” Pacer Coach Larry Bird said.

“Overall, in the second half, the guys knew what they were in for and just stepped up and played great basketball. When you’re down 11 points, you have to do something. The only way you get back in is play solid defense.”

The Pacers, who beat the Cavaliers by 29 points on Thursday, struggled with poor shooting and poor defense early before taking control in the third quarter.

Mark Jackson had eight assists and eight points in the third quarter, including two three-point baskets that brought the Pacers within 57-53. Cleveland, hurt because of turnovers, managed only three baskets over the next five minutes. Chris Mullin then hit a three-point basket--his only basket of the game--to give the Pacers their first lead at 65-63 with 2:38 to go.

Cleveland closed within 89-86 on a basket by Shawn Kemp with 30 seconds left. Jalen Rose, who finished with 17 points, then made three free throws and the Cavaliers’ Danny Ferry and Wesley Person missed three-point attempts in the closing seconds.

Utah 105, Houston 90--Karl Malone scored 11 of his 29 points in a 32-point third quarter at Salt Lake City as the Jazz tied the series at one game apiece.

The series will resume in Houston on Wednesday. The Jazz are trying to avoid becoming only the second top-seeded team in NBA history to lose a first-round playoff series.

The Rockets mounted a 15-7 fourth-quarter run and pulled to 89-75 with 5:19 remaining when Hakeem Olajuwon was ejected for arguing with referee Ronnie Nunn. The resulting foul shots and a flagrant foul by Charles Barkley against John Stockton on Utah’s next possession ended Houston’s comeback.