PHOENIX — The San Antonio Spurs lost a shot at home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and saw a grimacing Manu Ginobili leave the court in pain early in the game.

Not exactly a beautiful ending to a powerful regular season.

“Now,” coach Gregg Popovich said, “the fun starts.”

Despite the 106-103 loss to Phoenix on Wednesday night, the Spurs are the No. 1 seed in the West and early indications were that Ginobili’s hyperextended elbow wasn’t serious.

Popovich sat Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker in a loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, but all three were in the starting lineup Wednesday.

“You can’t predict anything and there’s no reason to second guess and I don’t think any one of us are going to do that,” Duncan said. “Luckily, it’s not serious and hopefully he can be ready to go once the playoff starts. You cross your fingers, you hope for that, and you move on.”

The Spurs move on to a first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that seemed to want to face San Antonio.

“They sat their guys for the last three or four games,” Duncan said. “They’re trying to stay where they’re at. Obviously, they’ve chosen their matchup and want to stick with it.”

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds to help the Suns avoid being swept in the four-game regular season series.

The Spurs, at 61-21, finished a game behind Chicago for the best record in the NBA.

Had San Antonio and the Bulls finished tied and faced each other in the NBA finals, home-court advantage would have been determined by a random drawing because all other tiebreakers were equal.

Ginobili went down with 9:46 left in the first quarter. The star guard slid to the floor near the San Antonio free throw line, then the Suns’ Grant Hill fell on top of him.

X-rays for a more serious injury were negative. An MRI was planned Thursday.

Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out the Spurs’ 102-93 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday but all three were in the starting lineup against Phoenix. Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Parker scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes. Neither were on the court when the game ended.

“Tony’s been under the weather. He got 25 minutes so I thought that was about enough for him,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “We got Timmy about 30 so that was good. They needed to get a good run and they did so they could keep a rhythm. And then you like to win, but we didn’t and that’s the way it goes.”

Channing Frye and Jared Dudley scored 17 apiece for the Suns.

“We’ve kind of had our fans on the emotional roller coaster this year,” Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said, “where we played well and then we struggled then we played well.”

Phoenix failed to make the playoffs for the second time in three years after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals a year ago, which included a second-round sweep of San Antonio.

“It’s been a long year so to finish it off with a couple of victories was good,” the Suns’ Steve Nash said. “I think it was important for us too for our psyche. It’s a good feeling amidst a lot of disappointment.”

Nash, with one year left on his contract with Phoenix, said he has no desire to play elsewhere.

“This is my team,” he said.

The Suns shot out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter Wednesday night and the Spurs never could catch them.

After shooting 65 percent in the first 12 minutes (17 of 26), the Suns made 20 percent (5 of 25) in the second to lead 61-53 at the break.

San Antonio cut it to 66-63 on Parker’s short jumper three minutes into the second half, but an 11-1 Phoenix run made it 77-64 when Dudley made a pair of free throws with 5:01 to play in the period.

Down 85-74 after three, the Spurs came back to make it a free throw shootout down the stretch. Aaron Brooks sank two from the line to put Phoenix ahead 106-103 with 3.9 seconds to go. Gary Neal threw up an airball from the corner for San Antonio just before the buzzer.

NOTES: Hill became the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 13 points at age 38 or older. … Ginobili missed two games this season, only one because of injury: March 28 against Portland because of a bruised left quad. … Nash led the NBA in assists for the fifth time, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd as the only players to do so. … San Antonio had the best record in the West for the sixth time in franchise history – five of them with Duncan. … The Suns won 40 games for the seventh straight season.

PHOENIX (AP)—The San Antonio Spurs lost a shot at home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and saw a grimacing Manu Ginobili(notes) leave the court in pain early in the game.

Not exactly a beautiful ending to a powerful regular season.

“Now,” coach Gregg Popovich said, “the fun starts.”

Despite the 106-103 loss to Phoenix on Wednesday night, the Spurs are the No. 1 seed in the West and early indications were that Ginobili’s hyperextended elbow wasn’t serious.

Popovich sat Ginobili, Tim Duncan(notes) and Tony Parker(notes) in a loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, but all three were in the starting lineup Wednesday.

“You can’t predict anything and there’s no reason to second guess and I don’t think any one of us are going to do that,” Duncan said. “Luckily, it’s not serious and hopefully he can be ready to go once the playoff starts. You cross your fingers, you hope for that, and you move on.”

The Spurs move on to a first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that seemed to want to face San Antonio.

“They sat their guys for the last three or four games,” Duncan said. “They’re trying to stay where they’re at. Obviously, they’ve chosen their matchup and want to stick with it.”

Marcin Gortat(notes) had 21 points and 13 rebounds to help the Suns avoid being swept in the four-game regular season series.

The Spurs, at 61-21, finished a game behind Chicago for the best record in the NBA.

Had San Antonio and the Bulls finished tied and faced each other in the NBA finals, home-court advantage would have been determined by a random drawing because all other tiebreakers were equal.

Ginobili went down with 9:46 left in the first quarter. The star guard slid to the floor near the San Antonio free throw line, then the Suns’ Grant Hill(notes) fell on top of him.

X-rays for a more serious injury were negative. An MRI was planned Thursday.

Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out the Spurs’ 102-93 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday but all three were in the starting lineup against Phoenix. Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Parker scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes. Neither were on the court when the game ended.

“Tony’s been under the weather. He got 25 minutes so I thought that was about enough for him,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “We got Timmy about 30 so that was good. They needed to get a good run and they did so they could keep a rhythm. And then you like to win, but we didn’t and that’s the way it goes.”

Channing Frye(notes) and Jared Dudley(notes) scored 17 apiece for the Suns.

“We’ve kind of had our fans on the emotional roller coaster this year,” Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said, “where we played well and then we struggled then we played well.”

Phoenix failed to make the playoffs for the second time in three years after a surprise run to the Western Conference finals a year ago, which included a second-round sweep of San Antonio.

“It’s been a long year so to finish it off with a couple of victories was good,” the Suns’ Steve Nash(notes) said. “I think it was important for us too for our psyche. It’s a good feeling amidst a lot of disappointment.”

Nash, with one year left on his contract with Phoenix, said he has no desire to play elsewhere.

“This is my team,” he said.

The Suns shot out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter Wednesday night and the Spurs never could catch them.

After shooting 65 percent in the first 12 minutes (17 of 26), the Suns made 20 percent (5 of 25) in the second to lead 61-53 at the break.

San Antonio cut it to 66-63 on Parker’s short jumper three minutes into the second half, but an 11-1 Phoenix run made it 77-64 when Dudley made a pair of free throws with 5:01 to play in the period.

Down 85-74 after three, the Spurs came back to make it a free throw shootout down the stretch. Aaron Brooks(notes) sank two from the line to put Phoenix ahead 106-103 with 3.9 seconds to go. Gary Neal(notes) threw up an airball from the corner for San Antonio just before the buzzer.

NOTES: Hill became the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 13 points at age 38 or older. … Ginobili missed two games this season, only one because of injury: March 28 against Portland because of a bruised left quad. … Nash led the NBA in assists for the fifth time, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd(notes) as the only players to do so. … San Antonio had the best record in the West for the sixth time in franchise history—five of them with Duncan. … The Suns won 40 games for the seventh straight season.

Oh, what could’ve been.

Photos from the game | Box score

The Suns, the team that disappointed as much as any in the NBA this season, looked as good as any in its farewell Wednesday night.

A losing, lottery-bound, lamentable season ended with US Airways Center cheers for the Suns tying their most mistake-free game of the season in a 106-103 victory over the best of the West, San Antonio.

The nothing-held-back Suns (40-42) had their highest-scoring first quarter of the season with 43 points, their first 40-point quarter since November. They did not make a turnover until the third quarter and had only a season-low-tying six for the game. They defended the Spurs (61-21), who were denied a shot at home-court advantage through the NBA Finals, into 42.7 percent shooting. They even located their former promising center, Robin Lopez, for his best game since February.

“It was important for us too for our psyche,” Nash said. “It’s a good feeling amidst a lot of disappointment.”

It was everything the Suns had intended to be this season but only appeared sporadically to wind up on the outside of the playoffs for the second time in three years. The Suns at least got to 40 wins, making them the only team besides Denver, Dallas and San Antonio to win at least 40 games in the past seven seasons.

“That’s our seventh game,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “But it was a good win for us to end on a note like that playing against a team that needed the win. As I told them, 40-42 sounds a ton better than 39-43.”

The Spurs were looking to get into a playoff rhythm after resting four of their starters Tuesday night in Los Angeles against the Lakers. But it looked more like last season’s playoff rhythm, when the Suns knocked out San Antonio with a second-round sweep.

The Suns averted a regular-season sweep to the Spurs and finished 10th in the West against the full Spurs lineup, although San Antonio lost Manu Ginobili to a hyperextended elbow just 2:14 into the game. Ginobili will be examined Thursday in San Antonio.

As devastating as the Suns were in a 43-29 first quarter with Marcin Gortat’s 14 points, Grant Hill’s 10 points and Steve Nash’s eight points and six assists, they went completely the other way in the second quarter with a string of 14 consecutive misses.

The Suns never lost their lead, though, asserting themselves defensively in the third quarter for a stretch of eight consecutive key Spurs misses, the first half of which were by Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.

The Suns only shot 40.2 percent for the game – with Aaron Brooks going 0 for 7 while the player the Suns traded for him, Goran Dragic, posted his first career triple-double in Houston on Wednesday night. But Phoenix had only one turnover – a third-quarter Gortat offensive foul – until the fourth quarter, when they committed five turnovers to let San Antonio pull within one twice in the final 10 seconds.

Brooks made four free throws and Gary Neal missed a 3 to tie at the end, sending Suns 18-year broadcaster Gary Bender out a winner with tears and a smile.

“It’s just great to beat one of the best teams in the NBA right now and it’s just a good feeling to end up the season with a win,” Gortat said.

Gortat led the Suns with 21 points and 13 rebounds, giving the Gortat-Lopez center tandem 32 points and 16 rebounds. Channing Frye added 17 points and nine rebounds, and Dudley had 17 points and eight rebounds.

View from press row

Grant Hill became the first two-time winner of the Dan Majerle Hustle Award before Wednesday’s season finale and then reminded everyone why he won the ninth presentation of it. Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat personify the award just as well but there is something about the league’s third oldest player regularly outracing opponents down the floor, defending each team’s key offensive player and communicating more than anyone on the floor that gives him the nod. Suns fans, players, coaches and employees voted for the award.

Report

Key player

Suns center Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds, his 23rd double-double after having six with Orlando.

Key moment

With Steve Nash out, Jared Dudley created the Suns offense down the stretch.

Key number

6 A season-low tying Suns turnover total.

(Sports Network) – Things can change quite a bit in one year.

The Phoenix Suns swept the San Antonio Spurs out of the playoffs last season en route to a Western Conference finals appearance. In 2010-11, its San Antonio that is the Western Conference’s top seed while the Suns will be finishing an extremely disappointing season when the two clubs clash in the desert.

At 61-20 San Antonio is deadlocked with Chicago for the best record in the NBA. If both clubs finish with the same mark, a random draw will decide which team would have home-court advantage in a possible NBA finals meeting.

The Spurs seemingly gave up a chance to control their own destiny with the Bulls on Tuesday in Los Angeles by resting starters Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Antonio McDyess in a 102-93 loss to the Lakers.

San Antonio was led by Gary Neal’s 16 points in the setback, while Matt Bonner chipped in 13 points in the loss, the club’s first in five games.

Coach Gregg Popovich hinted his starters will be back in the lineup tonight, however.

“It’s a back-to-back, and I’d rather play [Wednesday] and not have such a long time before the weekend,” Popovich said. “[The bench] got some experience. I’m happy with what they did.”

The Suns, meanwhile, are trying to close strongly and are coming off a 135-127 overtime win over lowly Minnesota on Monday. Channing Frye hit nine three- pointers en route to a career-high 33 points while Jared Dudley went 5-for-5 from long distance in that one.

Grant Hill had 21 points and Steve Nash posted eight points but had 16 assists for the Suns, who made 18-of-29 shots from the three-point arc and snapped a two-game losing streak.

“Channing (Frye) shot the ball well,” Phoenix head coach Alvin Gentry said. “JD (Jared Dudley) shot the ball well. We did a good job of getting them the ball and they knocked in some three-point shots which we very much needed to get back in the game.”

The Suns swept the Spurs in the West semifinals last season before bowing out to the eventual NBA champion Lakers in six games during the West finals. The team lost star forward Amare Stoudemire to New York in a sign-and-trade during the offseason and will be finishing with its first losing record in seven years.

San Antonio has won all three of its meetings with Phoenix this year and will be attempting to sweep the season series for the first time since 2003-04.

The Sports Network

Just a year after the Suns vanquished the San Antonio monster in the playoffs, the Spurs are back to ending the season for the Suns.

San Antonio Spurs is the West’s top team and haven’t yet lost 20 games on the season. They’re still fighting the Bulls for the #1 overall seed but look to be in good shape of at least earning a tie with them for the top spot where tie breakers would determine who has home court should they meet each other in the Finals.

Recently, the Spurs have bounced back from their 6 game skids to win 4 consecutive games and look to be primed for the playoffs. They’re a veteran team with no real injuries on their roster and have experience in navigating a tough playoff field. At this point in the season, they’re where everyone else wants to be. They’ve earned it, so kudos to them.

The Suns closed the Spurs’ season last year with a second-round sweep that was as sweet as cane sugar for Phoenix, given four arduous playoff exits to the black and silver dating to 2003.

Phoenix center Marcin Gortat reacts after the Suns were called for a foul against San Antonio Spurs during the first half on Sunday. (Bahram Mark Sobhani/Associated Press)

George Hill scored 29 points as the San Antonio Spurs stopped the longest skid of Tim Duncan’s career, beating up the visiting Phoenix Suns 114-97 on Sunday and ending a six-game losing streak.

It was a cathartic rout for San Antonio after going winless for two weeks and dulling a once-comfortable lead atop the Western Conference. The win kept the Spurs at least 1 ½ games ahead of the surging Los Angeles Lakers.

Aaron Brooks and Channing Frye had 14 points apiece for the Suns, who will miss the playoffs for the second time in three seasons as a result of the loss.

Matt Bonner added 16 points for San Antonio (58-19), which remains the NBA’s winningest team but lost its air of dominance during the longest slide of Duncan’s 14-year career.