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Final Score: Phoenix 96 - San Antonio 102

San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Tony Parker scored 32 points and dished out seven assists and the San Antonio Spurs recovered from a slow start to dominate the second half en route to a 102-96 Game 2 victory over the Phoenix Suns and a two-game lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Manu Ginobili dropped 29 off the Spurs bench, while Tim Duncan added 18 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, as San Antonio outscored Phoenix 27-11 in a game- turning third quarter. The Spurs, who took Game 1 in double-overtime, 117-115, won their third consecutive Game 2 and will take a commanding 2-0 advantage to Phoenix as the series shifts to the Suns' home floor Friday.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us, but we're not discouraged," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We've shown we can be there. A lot of quarters we've won. For just whatever reason we just came out flat or they came out great in the third quarter and it got away from us."

Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 33 points and seven boards, while Steve Nash had 23 to go with 10 assists. But Nash had just one assist to three turnovers in the final 24 minutes, and was out of the game for an extended stretch of the decisive third quarter.

Shaquille O'Neal scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, though he made just 7-of-14 free-throw attempts as San Antonio continued to employ the now-famous "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy, forcing him to earn his points at the stripe and, in the process, slowing down the Suns attack.

Still, despite falling behind by as many as 17 early in the fourth, Phoenix was back within five with 2:40 to go after Stoudemire converted a tip-in and Nash scored on a pair of free throws and a stepback jumper over Duncan.

Duncan then drew a foul on Phoenix's Boris Diaw and hit one free throw, and Diaw committed a costly turnover at the other end, traveling in the lane. O'Neal, on the bench during the Suns' late rally, then returned to the floor with 1:59 showing on the clock, and his presence was exploited by Ginobili.

The left-hander sliced into the lane past Raja Bell, drawing O'Neal out of the paint, then dropped a nifty over-the-shoulder pass to Duncan, who threw down a one-handed dunk for a 99-91 Spurs lead.

Nash hit a runner off the glass the next time down to make it a six-point game with 1:30 left, but Parker, defended by O'Neal off a switch, buried a stepback jumper to all but end Phoenix's comeback bid.

San Antonio got just 23 points from players not named Parker, Ginobili or Duncan, but locked down defensively in the second half and shot 46.3 percent from the floor itself.

The Suns, who shot a blistering 68 percent in the first half, got nine points from Diaw and eight from Bell, but made just 4-of-13 three-point attempts.

"I don't think anybody on our team expects to go 4-0 (in the series)," Duncan said. "We're going to play a game at a time. Game 3 is big for them. They're going to walk into their house feeling very confident. They really pushed us when they were here, playing on the road."

Phoenix sped out to an early 26-12 lead behind 12 points from Stoudemire, but a 17-8 surge, which bridged the late-first and early-second quarters, had San Antonio back within four, 38-34, with 8:50 left in the half.

O'Neal hit a short jumper and Stoudemire threw down a dunk off a dish from Nash to push the Phoenix lead back to 48-37. But Parker keyed another Spurs surge to bring them back within six, and despite a 61-percent shooting half by the Suns, San Antonio went to the locker room down just 61-54 at the break.

The Spurs scored the first 11 points of the second half -- a 15-0 run in all -- to take a 65-51 lead before Nash finally hit Phoenix's first field goal of the third inside the six-minute mark. Nash then went to the bench for the period's final four-plus minutes, and San Antonio stretched its margin to 81-72 by the end of the third.

Ginobili knocked down his third three of the night to start the fourth, staking the Spurs to an 11-point bulge -- their largest to that point. Parker then scored in the lane, Fabricio Oberto hit a short jumper, Parker dropped in a teardrop floater, and the lead ballooned to 90-73 with more than nine minutes still remaining.

Nash drilled a three just ahead of the seven-minute mark to cut the margin to 94-81, but Phoenix couldn't buy a bucket its next few trips down the floor, and Parker made it a 15-point game again with a driving hoop at the 4:46 mark.