Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash (centre) is held back by the referee and an assistant coach after being knocked down by San Antonio Spurs' Robert Horry after a flagrant foul on Nash in the final seconds of Game Four of their NBA Western Conference semi-final on Monday. - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters):

AMARE STOUDEMIRE scored 26 points to help the Phoenix Suns rally for a 104-98 road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night, the victory squaring their Western Conference semi-final series at 2-2.

Stoudemire hit back-to-back field goals in an 8-0 fourth-quarter run that lifted Phoenix from a five-point deficit into a three-point advantage with 32 seconds remaining.

Ensure win

The Suns then added four of the next five points to ensure the win in a game that became heated in the closing seconds.

San Antonio's Robert Horry body-checked Phoenix guard Steve Nash into the scorer's table with 18.2 seconds left, prompting players from both teams to clear the bench.

"You have to stand up for yourself sometimes," Nash told reporters after attempting to confront Horry.

"You've got to roll with the punches a lot of the times but that was a little uncalled for," Nash added.

"At what point is enough enough?"

Horry was ejected and Phoenix's Raja Bell was charged with a technical foul for seeking out the Spurs forward.

"You can't let a guy check your best player who's a little guy, no disrespect to Steve," Bell told reporters.

"Nobody wants to fight but you have to take offense to that."

"Dir-ty, dir-ty, dir-ty," Stoudemire yelled at the crowd.

Nash, who suffered a bloody nose earlier in the series, finished with 24 points and 15 assists.

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 23 points, while Tim Duncan contributed 21 points and 11 rebounds.

"In the heat of the battle, it's hard to get a hold of your emotions at times," Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said.

Game Five in the best-of-seven series is in Phoenix tonight.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers turned up the defensive pressure for an 87-85 victory over the New Jersey Nets that put them within one win of reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

New Jersey were held without a basket for the last seven minutes by a tenacious Cleveland defence that gave the Cavaliers a commanding 3-1 lead in the semi-final series.

The Nets's Vince Carter was harried by Cleveland's Larry Hughes with 10 seconds left and lost the ball out of bounds to seal victory.

LeBron James scored 30 points for the Cavaliers, with Hughes adding 19 points.

The Nets were paced by Carter and unheralded forward Mikki Moore, who both had 25 points.

Game Five will be played in Cleveland tonight.