SAN ANTONIO – Even if the Phoenix Suns don’t come all the way back and make the NBA Finals, they’re guaranteed of having at least one good memory from the Western Conference finals.

Finally getting out on the fast break and doing a better job on defense, the Suns showed a never-quit spirit from start to finish to beat the San Antonio Spurs 111-106 last night and prevent being swept in four games.

Amare Stoudemire was far better than his statistics (31 points, five rebounds) showed, making a series of big plays down the stretch. He held Tim Duncan to just 15 points, only four in the second half, and leaped above the rim to block his dunk attempt with 36 seconds left that would have brought San Antonio within two points. Replays clearly showed Stoudemire’s hand within the basket cylinder, meaning the basket should have counted.

Phoenix went up by 12 – its biggest lead of the series – midway through the third quarter and never gave it up, despite the Spurs doing their best to pull off their third fourth-quarter comeback of the series. San Antonio made it 102-101 on a 3-pointer by Robert Horry and 107-106 on a 3-pointer by Bruce Bowen with 1:03 left, but the Suns refused to go down.

Suns coach Mike D’Antoni maintained for two days that his club just needed to iron out some kinks to get past the Spurs and he proved to be right.

They finally led after one quarter, 26-23, something they hadn’t done in nine games, since the opener of the last round. They got 26 points from their open-court game, saw Shawn Marion return to form, and made the big plays in the closing minutes.

Steve Nash had 17 points and 12 assists, more normal numbers for the MVP after having just three assists last game. Joe Johnson scored 17 points on 10-of-15 shooting, Quentin Richardson scored 14, and Marion had 11, including several in transition and a 3-pointer that capped a 15-2 run in third quarter.

Despite having only the five rebounds, Stoudemire got the final rebound that mattered, grabbing a miss by Johnson away from Manu Ginobili in the final seconds, preventing the Spurs from getting the ball back down by three.

Instead, Nash ended up getting fouled and made two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to seal the victory, Phoenix’s first in six games this season with San Antonio that Duncan played.

The Spurs lost at home for only the sixth time in 49 games. Duncan finished 3-of-12 from the free-throw line.