Charles Smith contributed a season-high 19 points off the bench for the Spurs, who won their third straight road contest. They have won 14 of 16 games since splitting the first four of the season.
"We weren't perfect by any means," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We've still got a long way to go, trying to have five people know what we're doing on either end of the court. But what we did well was play aggresively for 48 minutes."
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from Spurs-Suns: 56k | 300k  Tim Duncan drives to the basket. Barry Gossage NBAE/Getty Images |
However, Duncan put San Antonio ahead for good moments later by making two free throws. Smith followed with a pair of jumpers and a basket by Antonio Daniels pushed the Spurs' advantage to eight points.
"We brought a lot of energy off the bench and that's our jobs," said Smith. "If the starters can't get going, we just come out and try to play our game."
With 5:20 to play, Duncan's tip-in put the Spurs ahead, 92-82, and Phoenix got no closer than six the rest of the way.
"I thought (Duncan) was fantastic tonight," Popovich added. "He was really great on the boards, really strong down there."
The Suns were led by Rodney Rogers, who had season highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds. However, they lost for the third time in five outings following a five-game winning streak.
"We came out flat and they took it to us right away," Suns coach Scott Skiles said. "We got what we deserved. We weren't sharp tonight. We didn't get back on defense, rebound or shoot the ball well."
After the teams battled to a 20-20 tie over the first 12 minutes, the Spurs were the better team in the second quarter and took a 53-45 lead into halftime, behind 11 points from Duncan.
A 19-footer by Duncan early in the fourth quarter gave San Antonio a 79-72 lead, but the Suns responded with an 8-1 run, forging an 80-80 tie on a layup by Rogers with just over nine minutes left.
"I was able to get the ball in pretty decent position," Duncan said. "I didn't shoot the ball as well as I thought I could've. I missed a whole lot of easy ones, but I just tried to stay with it."
David Robinson had 10 points and nine rebounds for San Antonio but played only 16 minutes.
The Spurs connected on 47 percent (38-of-81) of their shots while overcoming 17 turnovers that led to 22 Phoenix points.
Stephon Marbury collected 22 points and eight assists for the Suns, who shot just 39 percent (36-of-93), including 6-of-19 from 3-point range.
"We didn't play with that intensity at the beginning of the game," said Marbury. "They made shots. They're a great team. You can't come out like that against a team like that, and we didn't make shots."