SAN ANTONIO, April 26 -- Vinny Del Negro scored a playoff career-high 29 points Friday night and David Robinson added 28 to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 120-98 rout of the Phoenix Suns in the opening game of their Western Conference first-round series. Del Negro and Robinson each netted 11 points in the third quarter when the Spurs shot a franchise-record 84 percent from the floor (16-of- 19) to blow the game open. Overall, San Antonio shot a team playoff- record 62 percent (51-for-82) from the field, including 67 percent (6- of-9) from three-point range. Will Perdue added a playoff career-high 17 points and nine rebounds while Avery Johnson had 12 points and tied a career high with 18 assists, including a club playoff-record eight in the third quarter. Charles Barkley had 26 points and 12 boards and Kevin Johnson added 14 points and 11 assists for Phoenix, which dropped three of four encounters with the Spurs during the regular season. The Suns played without rookie forward Michael Finley, who is suffering from a sprained left ankle. Game Two is Sunday in San Antonio. Phoenix jumped out to a 13-6 lead 4:47 into the game before Robinson scored six points in a 14-7 Spurs run that evened the score at 20-20 with 2:57 left in the quarter. Robinson had 10 points and three rebounds in the first 12 minutes when the Spurs built a 28-26 lead. San Antonio extended a 38-34 second-quarter lead by reeling off eight straight points to take a 46-36 advantage with four minutes left in the half.
Del Negro scored all 11 of his first-half points and the Spurs shot 65 percent (13-of-20) in the second quarter to hold a 58-44 lead at the intermission. San Antonio put the game away early in the third quarter when Robinson scored six points in an 11-2 burst that pushed the margin to 73-50 with 8:27 left. Barkley's three-pointer brought the Suns within 83-67 with four minutes left in the period, but San Antonio countered with a 10-2 spree to make it 93-69 with 68 seconds left. Sean Elliott scored 16 points and Chuck Person added 11 off the bench for the Spurs, who shot worse from the foul line -- 12-of-20 -- than from the field. The team had 35 assists and led the Suns in fast-break points, 23-7. Wesley Person scored 13 points, while Hot Rod Williams and Danny Manning each added 11 for Phoenix, which shot 42 percent from the floor.
