Suns notebook: Amaré’s offense disappears in 2nd half

SAN ANTONIO - It was a tale of two halves for Suns forward Amaré Stoudemire.

Stoudemire was a terror in the first half of Phoenix’s Game 2 102-96 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

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He scored 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting, abusing both Kurt Thomas and Tim Duncan.

But San Antonio made a defensive switch in the second half, putting Duncan on Stoudemire, and everything changed.

Stoudemire scored just eight points in the final two quarters on 2-of-11 shooting. And one of those field goals was a desperation 3-pointer late in the game.

“They definitely wanted to change shots and put more pressure on me,” Stoudemire said. “But I still had open looks. They just didn’t fall for me.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wasn’t taking any credit for Stoudemire’s second-half slump.

“If we knew how we did it, I wouldn’t tell you,” he said. “I am just happy we did it.”

HILL STARTS, CAN’T FINISH

Grant Hill was able to convince the Suns coaches and brass that he was good to go in Game 2, and was on the floor for the first 10 minutes when Phoenix built an early 14-point lead.

“We weren’t ahead because of me. Even the first (minutes) were as struggle,” Hill said. “I wasn’t doing much. I couldn’t do much. I tried to suck it up.”

That was the high-water mark for both the Suns and Hill, who played only nine minutes the rest of the way and sat down for good five minutes into the third period.

Asked if it was the right decision to play rather than get more rest, Hill said, “I don’t know. Who knows? I’m a foot and ankle guy.

Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said he wasn’t worried about not having Hill available to throw another look at Tony Parker, confident that Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa would be able to do the job. But with Hill watching from the bench in the fourth quarter, Parker had 10 of his 32 points as the Spurs closed out the game.

TOUGH NIGHT FOR L.B.

The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili received his Sixth Man of the Year trophy before the game, and then went out and scored 29 points.

The runner-up in the balloting, Phoenix guard Leandro Barbosa, didn’t fare as well.

Barbosa was 0-for-7 from the field and was held scoreless for the first time all season.

“I think it was a bad day for me,” Barbosa said. “I couldn’t make my shots. I don’t know what happened. I don’t think it was the defense because I was open. When I went to the basket, I got a couple looks. It feels good but it doesn’t go in. I don’t know what happened.”

The Suns got only 13 points from their bench — nine from Boris Diaw — and 75 of their 96 points from Stoudemire, Steve Nash (23) and Shaquille O’Neal (19).

“The third quarter was just frustrating for everyone. We just couldn’t do anything, and we played so well in the start.

“We have to find a better way. We have to forget about this game and move on.”

BONUS SHOTS

Popovich went to his Hack-A-Shaq card late in the third quarter, when he had O’Neal fouled on three straight possessions. The third foul was almost comical, as O’Neal tried to elude the grasp of Brent Barry.

O’Neal, however, made Popovich pay for the fouls, sinking five of six free throws in a 48-second stretch.

“The results were not mixed at all,” Popovich said. “He made the strategy look really stupid.”

With the Spurs scraping for any kind of offensive help in the first half, Popovich went to Phoenix nemesis Robert Horry for a three-minute stint in the second quarter. The Suns attacked him right away, with both Nash and Stoudemire scoring, and other than a blocked shot on Shaquille’O’Neal, his stint wasn’t memorable.

When asked by TNT’s David Aldridge if he was hurt by a hard foul by O’Neal in the first half, Parker said, “That’s OK, my wife (actress Eva Longoria) will take care of me.”

After collecting nine of Phoenix’s 12 assists in the first half, Nash had just one in the second half.

When the Spurs took a five-point lead (68-63) on an Ime Udoka free throw with 3:32 left in the third quarter, it represented their biggest lead of the series to that point.