PHOENIX — Sore hip? What sore hip?

After resting his strained right hip for three days, Steve Nash had 33 points and 10 assists, and the Phoenix Suns broke their Game 1 curse against the San Antonio Spurs with a 111-102 victory last night in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series.

Any doubt that Nash would be slowed by the injury ended in the early minutes of the game, when he made his five shots, including an array of twisting, swiveling drives to the hoop. He had 17 points by the end of the first quarter.

"You never know what the game is going to present," Nash said. "You have to be willing and aggressive and do whatever you can. For me, I didn't know how I was going to feel physically, but dragging my leg around in Game 6 in Portland wasn't very fun and it was great to get out there and feel like I could do something."

Jason Richardson scored 27 and Amare Stoudemire had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns.

Manu Ginobili, tape across his broken nose, scored 27, Tony Parker 26 and Tim Duncan 20 for the Spurs, who had won three straight Game 1s against the Suns, two of them in Phoenix. Both of those times, in 2005 and 2007, the Spurs went on to win the NBA title.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is tomorrow night in Phoenix.

Parker's two free throws cut the Spurs' deficit to 103-97, but Grant Hill made a 13-foot jumper with 51 seconds left, and the Suns put it away by making six of eight free throws from there.

"When we did get back into it, we gave up a bunch of points in transition," Duncan said, "and that's the best transition team in the league."

SAN ANTONIO 22 25 28 27—102

PHOENIX 31 26 28 26—111

SAN ANTONIO–Jefferson 1-3 3-5 5, Duncan 8-15 4-9 20, McDyess 3-7 0-0 6, Ge.Hill 2-9 5-6 9, Ginobili 9-20 6-7 27, Parker 11-21 4-4 26, Bonner 1-2 0-0 2, Mason 0-2 0-0 0, Blair 1-1 0-0 2, Temple 0-0 0-0 0, Bogans 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 38-83 22-31 102.

PHOENIX–Gr.Hill 2-7 3-4 7, Stoudemire 9-17 5-5 23, Collins 0-1 0-0 0, Nash 13-19 5-6 33, Richardson 10-16 4-6 27, Frye 2-6 0-0 6, Dudley 1-3 1-2 3, Barbosa 1-2 3-4 5, Amundson 1-1 1-2 3, Dragic 2-7 0-0 4. Totals 41-79 22-29 111.

3-Point Goals—San Antonio 4-19 (Ginobili 3-9, Bogans 1-2, Bonner 0-1, Mason 0-2, Ge.Hill 0-5), Phoenix 7-20 (Richardson 3-6, Nash 2-4, Frye 2-4, Stoudemire 0-1, Dudley 0-1, Gr.Hill 0-1, Dragic 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—San Antonio 48 (Duncan 11), Phoenix 51 (Stoudemire 13). Assists—San Antonio 18 (Ginobili 5), Phoenix 16 (Nash 10). Total Fouls—San Antonio 25, Phoenix 26. Technicals—Phoenix defensive three second. A—18,422 (18,422).