Phoenix Suns – San Antonio Spurs · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 16 May 2021

PHX123–121SAS

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 74% of NBA games since 2017

· The win probability swung between the two teams 18 times

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.

↑ SAS winsPHX wins ↓

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

This is how the game was decided.

E'Twaun Moore decided it, the Phoenix Suns player with the most points (22, with 2 rebounds and 2 assists; -9 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Dario Saric's (+13). 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 San Antonio Spurs 121-123 Phoenix Suns (May 16, 2021) was hit by E'Twaun Moore: a three-pointer with 2.2 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Phoenix Suns up 123-121. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of San Antonio Spurs 121-123 Phoenix Suns (May 16, 2021) was a 9-0 run by the San Antonio Spurs in the fourth quarter (from 3:20 to 1:18), from 109-117 to 118-117. The Phoenix Suns' best was a 9-0 run in the first quarter (from 9:30 to 7:48), from 4-5 to 13-5.

What were the keys of the last San Antonio Spurs vs Phoenix Suns game?

▸See where these figures come from

Play: E'Twaun Moore makes 26-foot three pointer.

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.

E'Twaun Moore decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 2.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is the only game he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Moore 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.

16 May 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401307892:579; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · PHX

Carter · Smith · Craig · Galloway · Moore

Closing lineup · SAS

Vassell · Jones · Eubanks · Bates-Diop · Weatherspoon

Q1Q2Q3Q4

PHX

Jevon Carter

43′ · +5

Jalen Smith

41′ · +5

Cameron Payne

27′ · +11

Dario Saric

27′ · +13

Mikal Bridges

5′ · +8

Torrey Craig

30′ · +8

Frank Kaminsky

20′ · -10

Langston Galloway

26′ · -21

E'Twaun Moore

21′ · -9

SAS

Jakob Poeltl

30′ · -7

Dejounte Murray

30′ · -7

Lonnie Walker IV

27′ · -8

DeMar DeRozan

25′ · -4

Keldon Johnson

22′ · -4

Devin Vassell

26′ · +7

Rudy Gay

20′ · -1

Tre Jones

18′ · +5

Drew Eubanks

9′ · +9

Gorgui Dieng

9′ · -4

Keita Bates-Diop

12′ · +2

Quinndary Weatherspoon

12′ · +2

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

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Phoenix Suns

Payne, Craig, Carter, Smith, and Saric played 13.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 17 points.
Kaminsky, Carter, Smith, Moore, and Galloway played 6.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Payne, Bridges, Carter, Smith, and Saric played 5.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.

San Antonio Spurs

Murray, Poeltl, Walker, Johnson, and DeRozan played 10.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Murray, Poeltl, Walker, Gay, and DeRozan played 8.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Bates-Diop, Weatherspoon, Vassell, Jones, and Dieng played 7.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Phoenix Suns

Kaminsky, Craig, Carter, Moore, and Galloway played 4.6 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Payne, Carter, Smith, Saric, and Galloway played 3.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Craig, Carter, Smith, Moore, and Galloway played 3.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Kaminsky, Payne, Craig, Carter, and Smith played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Kaminsky, Craig, Moore, Saric, and Galloway played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Kaminsky, Payne, Carter, Smith, and Galloway played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Kaminsky, Craig, Smith, Moore, and Galloway played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Craig, Smith, Moore, Saric, and Galloway played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

San Antonio Spurs

Bates-Diop, Eubanks, Weatherspoon, Vassell, and Jones played 5.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Murray, Poeltl, Vassell, Gay, and DeRozan played 4.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Murray, Poeltl, Walker, Johnson, and Gay played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Murray, Poeltl, Walker, Johnson, and Vassell played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Walker, Johnson, Vassell, Jones, and Dieng played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Eubanks, Johnson, Vassell, Jones, and Gay played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Eubanks, Vassell, Jones, Gay, and DeRozan played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 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.

Jalen Smith covered 5.29 km, more than anyone in the game.

Jevon Carter touched the ball 77 times, a game high.
Dejounte Murray made 58 passes, a game high.
Jalen Smith defended 11 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 8.
Jakob Poeltl had 19 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Phoenix Suns

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jalen Smith	5.29	7.4	45	33
Jevon Carter	5.12	6.8	77	52
Torrey Craig	3.64	7.0	37	25
Cameron Payne	3.28	6.9	69	50
Dario Saric	3.25	6.9	49	33
Langston Galloway	3.25	6.9	31	17
E'Twaun Moore	2.59	7.0	48	34
Frank Kaminsky	2.38	6.6	56	46
Mikal Bridges	0.69	7.4	7	3

San Antonio Spurs

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jakob Poeltl	3.91	7.5	44	30
Dejounte Murray	3.68	7.1	70	58
Devin Vassell	3.39	7.4	24	13
Lonnie Walker IV	3.11	6.5	32	21
DeMar DeRozan	2.91	6.5	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.

Phoenix Suns

Cameron Payne drew 0.14 charges per game over his 59 games.
He ranks 40 of 364 in the league.
Mikal Bridges deflected 2.1 passes per game over his 72 games.
He ranks 57 of 364 in the league.
Dario Saric drew 0.10 charges per game over his 50 games.
He ranks 59 of 364 in the league.

San Antonio Spurs

Jakob Poeltl contested 14.5 shots per game over his 69 games.
He ranks 3 of 364 in the league.
Dejounte Murray deflected 2.9 passes per game over his 67 games.
He ranks 15 of 364 in the league.
DeMar DeRozan recovered 0.8 loose balls per game over his 61 games.
He ranks 65 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 San Antonio Spurs have won 85 of their 145 games against the Phoenix Suns.

85-60record of the San Antonio Spurs · NBA 1996-97 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1996-97 – 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

4738

25.8% of capacity

Frost Bank Center · San Antonio

Scoring

244

combined points

19.8 above the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

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

13 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors