Horry's flagrant foul that sent Nash tumbling into the scorer's table and a forearm to Bell in the subsequent scrum just before the Suns sealed a 104-98 victory in Game 4 resulted in his two-game suspension.

The Horry-Nash incident was just one among several that marked the series as confrontational, physical and nasty:

• Stoudemire early in the series called the Spurs a "dirty team" and said Bowen purposely kicked him during the Suns' series-evening Game 2 win. Bowen said he clipped Stoudemire, but that he would not kick him on purpose.

• In Game 1, Nash, who has been on the receiving end of several blows during the series, collided with Parker and got a gash across his nose that required six stitches. He had to sit out for a crucial stretch in the game's final minute.

• In Game 3, Bowen gave his critics ammunition when he kneed Nash in the groin area. Nash said Bowen told him on the court that the move was unintentional. The foul originally called on the play was later upgraded to a "flagrant foul 1."

• Ginobili sustained a bruised and bloodied eye on a drive to the basket in Game 3.

The teams were tied at 23 at the end of the first quarter on Friday.

Stoudemire made it known early that he was back after the suspension. He scored 17 points in the first half, including going 5-of-5 from the free throw line, and had seven rebounds.

Nash had just three points at halftime as the Spurs took a 53-51 lead.

Midway through the third quarter the Spurs took over. Ginobili hit the go-ahead basket to make it 60-59 for San Antonio and sparked a 14-2 run with 6:18 left in the period.

With 5:47 left in the third, Parker's spin to the basket for a layup gave the Spurs a 63-59 lead. Bowen hit a 3 with 5:23 on the clock and Ginobili then hit consecutive 3-pointers to give San Antonio 72-61 lead with 3:18 to go in the third.

The Spurs' fourth 3 of the quarter, which Bowen hit from the corner with 55 seconds left, put the Spurs up 79-66.