Portland Trail Blazers – Phoenix Suns · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 13 May 2021

POR117–118PHX

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 97% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 38 times
· It stayed close for almost the whole game

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ PHX winsPOR wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when PHX leads and falls when POR does.

This is how the game was decided.

Chris Paul decided it, the Phoenix Suns player with the most points (26, with 0 rebounds and 7 assists; -3 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Frank Kaminsky's (+7). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Phoenix Suns 118-117 Portland Trail Blazers (May 13, 2021) was hit by Devin Booker: a free throw with 2.4 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Phoenix Suns up 118-117. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Phoenix Suns 118-117 Portland Trail Blazers (May 13, 2021) was a 7-0 run by the Phoenix Suns in the first quarter (from 10:54 to 8:50), from 2-5 to 9-5. The Portland Trail Blazers' best was a 7-0 run between the first quarter and the second quarter, from 22-26 to 29-26.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Devin Booker makes free throw 2 of 2.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Devin Booker decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 2.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 10 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Booker decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

13 May 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401307865:610; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · POR

Lillard · Powell · McCollum · Covington · Anthony

Closing lineup · PHX

Crowder · Bridges · Booker · Paul · Craig

Q1Q2Q3Q4

POR

Damian Lillard

43′ · -2

Norman Powell

41′ · 0

CJ McCollum

39′ · +2

Robert Covington

37′ · -2

Jusuf Nurkic

26′ · +3

Carmelo Anthony

22′ · -1

Enes Freedom

16′ · -5

Anfernee Simons

16′ · 0

PHX

Jae Crowder

41′ · -2

Mikal Bridges

41′ · +5

Devin Booker

35′ · +2

Chris Paul

32′ · -3

Dario Saric

31′ · -10

Cameron Payne

27′ · +3

Frank Kaminsky

14′ · +7

Torrey Craig

15′ · +2

Jevon Carter

5′ · +1

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. POR and PHX.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Portland Trail Blazers

Powell, Lillard, McCollum, Covington, and Nurkic played 20.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Powell, Lillard, McCollum, Covington, and Anthony played 5.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Simons, Freedom, Lillard, Covington, and Anthony played 5.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

Phoenix Suns

Paul, Booker, Bridges, Crowder, and Saric played 17.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Kaminsky, Booker, Payne, Craig, and Bridges played 7.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Kaminsky, Booker, Payne, Bridges, and Crowder played 5.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Portland Trail Blazers

Powell, Simons, Freedom, McCollum, and Anthony played 5.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Simons, Lillard, McCollum, Covington, and Nurkic played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Powell, Simons, Freedom, Lillard, and Anthony played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Powell, Freedom, Lillard, McCollum, and Covington played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Powell, Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic, and Anthony played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Powell, Freedom, Lillard, McCollum, and Anthony played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Powell, Simons, Lillard, Covington, and Nurkic played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

Phoenix Suns

Paul, Payne, Craig, Crowder, and Saric played 4.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Paul, Payne, Carter, Crowder, and Saric played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Booker, Payne, Bridges, Crowder, and Saric played 2.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Paul, Payne, Craig, Bridges, and Crowder played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Paul, Bridges, Carter, Crowder, and Saric played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Paul, Payne, Bridges, Crowder, and Saric played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Paul, Kaminsky, Booker, Bridges, and Crowder played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Mikal Bridges covered 4.97 km, more than anyone in the game.

Damian Lillard touched the ball 96 times, a game high.
Damian Lillard made 59 passes, a game high.
Jusuf Nurkić defended 7 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 4.
Enes Freedom had 17 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Portland Trail Blazers

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Damian Lillard	4.83	6.4	96	59
Norman Powell	4.67	6.5	28	16
CJ McCollum	4.63	6.7	64	42
Robert Covington	4.05	6.2	54	40
Jusuf Nurkić	3.06	6.7	53	40
Carmelo Anthony	2.25	5.8	21	12
Anfernee Simons	2.08	7.2	19	16
Enes Freedom	1.85	6.6	23	18

Phoenix Suns

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Mikal Bridges	4.97	6.9	42	28
Jae Crowder	4.91	6.9	64	49
Devin Booker	4.07	6.6	51	27
Dario Saric	3.77	7.0	41	25
Chris Paul	3.28	5.8	62	44

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

Portland Trail Blazers

Robert Covington deflected 3.6 passes per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 2 of 364 in the league.
Damian Lillard recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 67 games.
He ranks 31 of 364 in the league.
Jusuf Nurkić contested 8.5 shots per game over his 37 games.
He ranks 36 of 364 in the league.

Phoenix Suns

Chris Paul recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 11 of 364 in the league.
Cameron Payne drew 0.14 charges per game over his 59 games.
He ranks 40 of 364 in the league.
Jae Crowder drew 0.13 charges per game over his 60 games.
He ranks 43 of 364 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Phoenix Suns have won 148 of their 282 games against the Portland Trail Blazers.

148-134record of the Phoenix Suns · NBA 1970-71 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1970-71 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

8359

49% of capacity

Mortgage Matchup Center · Phoenix

Scoring

235

combined points

10.8 above the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

23 calls reviewed5 errors admitted by the NBA

Turnover: Backcourt Turnover · 00:01.1

CJ McCollum → Suns

McCollum (POR) is established in the frontcourt when he deflects the throw-in into the backcourt. He then illegally gains possession of the ball in the backcourt.

Foul: Personal · 00:04.4

Norman Powell → Devin Booker

Powell (POR) wraps his arms around Booker (PHX) and the contact affects his FOM.

Turnover: Traveling · 00:34.7

Mikal Bridges → Trail Blazers

Bridges (PHX) slides his pivot foot at the start of his dribble.

Foul: Shooting · 01:04.3

Jusuf Nurkic → Dario Saric

Nurkic (POR) maintains a legal guarding position with a collapsed forearm against Saric's (PHX) side and he absorbs the contact during the shot attempt at the basket.