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Suns put Spurs on brink of elimination

| May 8, 2010 9:00 PM

The Phoenix Suns are one win away from revenge.

Goran Dragic scored 23 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and the visiting Suns took a stunning 3-0 lead over San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals with a 110-96 on Friday night, putting the Spurs in a historically irreparable hole.

The Spurs have put Phoenix through a decade of postseason misery, ousting the Suns from the playoffs four consecutive times since 2003.

Another win finally ends all that.

They can thank Dragic, whose brilliant fourth quarter made it unnecessary for Steve Nash to get off the bench until the final 3 minutes.

"Coach said 'Don't be shy, just be aggressive, attack the basket,"' Dragic said. "Third and fourth quarter, I just did it.

"I work hard for this moment so I'm really happy for this."

No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday night in San Antonio.

Cavaliers 124, Celtics 95: LeBron James scored 21 of his 38 points in the first quarter to help Cleveland win at Boston, handing the Celtics their worst home playoff loss in team history and taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.

Showing no ill-effects of an elbow problem that was the talk of Cleveland during the long layoff, James finished with eight rebounds and seven assists. The 21 points in a quarter was a franchise postseason record.

Antawn Jamison had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, while Shaquille O'Neal added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Game 4 is Sunday at Boston.