PHOENIX — On a night defined by who wasn’t on the floor, it was the names rarely seen on the marquee that delivered one of the most improbable victories of the 2025-26 NBA season.
With Stephen Curry sidelined, the newly acquired Kristaps Porzingis yet to arrive, and the roster in flux following the trade deadline, the Golden State Warriors looked dead in the water. They trailed by 14 points early in the fourth quarter against a Phoenix Suns team desperate to protect their home court. But in a stunning display of grit, defensive intensity, and unexpected offensive brilliance, the Warriors erased the deficit to steal a 101-97 victory at the Footprint Center on Thursday night.
The heroes were not the usual suspects. It was Pat Spencer, a former lacrosse star turned G-League grinder, dropping a career-high 20 points. It was Gui Santos, the energetic Brazilian forward, muscling his way to 18 points and the game-winning bucket. And it was a collective defensive strangulation that held the Suns scoreless for the final three minutes and 55 seconds of regulation.
“It’s just about staying ready,” Spencer said in the post-game scrum, still clutching the game ball. “We knew we were shorthanded. We knew nobody expected us to walk out of here with a W. But Coach Kerr told us to just keep playing, keep cutting, and the game would turn. And it did.”
The Fourth Quarter Furor
The game appeared to be following a familiar script for a road team missing its superstars. Phoenix, despite missing their own All-Star backcourt of Devin Booker (ankle) and Jalen Green (hamstring/hip), had seized control in the third quarter. They held Golden State to just 17 points in the period, taking an 82-76 lead into the final frame.
When Suns reserve guard Collin Gillespie drained three-pointers on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth, the Phoenix lead ballooned to 90-76 with under ten minutes remaining. The energy in the arena was celebratory; the Suns seemed poised to cruise to a comfortable win.
But the Warriors, deploying a scrappy, small-ball lineup, refused to fold. Steve Kerr, master of managing rotations amidst chaos, leaned on his younger legs. The defensive intensity ratcheted up. Golden State began trapping high, forcing the ball out of Dillon Brooks’ hands and clogging the passing lanes.
Methodically, the lead shrank. A De’Anthony Melton steal led to a transition layup. Moses Moody hit a corner jumper. Santos fought for an offensive rebound and putback. Suddenly, the “comfortable” lead was a single possession.
With 55.8 seconds remaining, Melton drove hard to the rim, finishing a contested layup to knot the game at 97-all. The Suns, rattled and stagnant, committed a turnover on the ensuing possession, setting the stage for the game’s defining moment.
With the clock ticking under 30 seconds, the Warriors didn’t call a timeout. They pushed the pace. The ball found Gui Santos on the break. The 6’8″ forward attacked the lane fearlessly, banking in a fast-break layup with 28.7 seconds left to give Golden State a 99-97 lead—their first advantage since the third quarter.
The Suns had one final chance. Dillon Brooks, who had led Phoenix all night with 24 points, isolated at the top of the key. He stepped back for a potential game-winning 3-pointer. The shot back-rimmed.
In the scramble for the loose ball, it was Gary Payton II—the defensive ace—who soared above the pack to secure the rebound. He quickly outletted to Moses Moody, who found Melton streaking down the floor for a layup as time expired, sealing the 101-97 final score.
The Unlikely Heroes: Spencer and Santos
The story of the night, undoubtedly, was Pat Spencer.
Spencer’s journey to the NBA is unique. A former Tewaaraton Award winner (lacrosse’s Heisman Trophy) at Loyola Maryland, he transitioned to basketball as a grad transfer at Northwestern before grinding his way through the G-League. On Thursday, he looked like a seasoned veteran.
Spencer kept the Warriors afloat in the first half, exploding for 15 points before the break. He was lethal from beyond the arc, draining five 3-pointers and forcing the Suns’ defense to extend. His movement off the ball—a hallmark of Kerr’s system—was impeccable. He finished with a career-high 20 points, providing the spacing Golden State desperately needed without Curry’s gravity.
“Pat was incredible,” Kerr said. “He’s a competitor. You don’t reach the level he did in another sport without having that internal drive. He was fearless tonight. Those threes in the first half kept us in the game.”
Gui Santos, meanwhile, provided the muscle. The Brazilian forward has often been a fringe rotation player, but with the trade of Trayce Jackson-Davis earlier in the day and the absence of Porzingis, minutes were available in the frontcourt. Santos grabbed them with both hands.
His 18 points came largely from hustle plays—cuts to the basket, transition run-outs, and offensive rebounds. His game-winner was a microcosm of his style: direct, physical, and decisive.
“I see the lane open, I go,” Santos said with a smile. “I know we need a bucket. I don’t think, I just go.”
The Suns’ Collapse and The Injury Blow
For Phoenix, the loss is a bitter pill to swallow, compounded by a potentially significant injury.
The Suns controlled the tempo for three quarters. Dillon Brooks was aggressive, filling the scoring void left by Booker and Green. He finished with 24 points, acting as the primary initiator. Grayson Allen was equally potent, scoring 21 points and acting as the floor spacer Phoenix relies upon.
However, the offense completely evaporated in the clutch. Phoenix scored just 15 points in the fourth quarter on a dismal 6-for-19 shooting performance. Even more damning, they failed to score a single point in the final 3:55 of the game.
The turning point may have been the loss of Grayson Allen. With just under four minutes remaining, Allen fed rookie big man Oso Ighodaro for a dunk that put Phoenix up 97-91. It was the last basket the Suns would score.
Moments later, Allen landed awkwardly after contesting a shot. He crumbled to the floor, clutching his right knee. The arena went silent. Allen was helped to the locker room and did not return. The Suns later characterized the injury as a “right knee injury,” with MRI results expected Friday.
Without Allen’s spacing and secondary ball-handling, the Suns’ offense stalled. The Warriors aggressively double-teamed Brooks, daring the supporting cast to beat them. Gillespie, who had been the spark plug earlier in the quarter, went cold. Ighodaro struggled to handle the physicality of Kevon Looney and Draymond Green (who played limited minutes due to foul trouble) in the paint.
“We stagnated,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer admitted. “When Grayson went down, we lost our rhythm. We stopped moving the ball. We settled for tough jumpers instead of attacking the paint. Give credit to Golden State, they ramped up the pressure, but we have to be better closing out games.”
Roster Flux: The Porzingis Era Awaits
The victory was even more impressive given the chaotic 24 hours preceding tip-off for Golden State.
Earlier in the day, the Warriors officially announced a blockbuster trade, acquiring former All-Star forward Kristaps Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks. The move signals a clear “win-now” pivot for the franchise, aiming to pair Curry with a versatile seven-footer who can stretch the floor and protect the rim.
However, Porzingis was not active for the game in Phoenix. He is expected to join the team on Friday in Los Angeles ahead of their showdown with the Lakers, though Kerr expressed skepticism about him suiting up immediately.
“Kristaps is a game-changer for us,” Kerr said pre-game. “But we have to integrate him smartly. He hasn’t practiced with us. He doesn’t know the terminology yet. We’re excited, but we need to be patient.”
To make room for the trade and adjust the rotation, the Warriors also made a difficult goodbye. The team announced they had traded second-year forward/center Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors for a second-round pick. Jackson-Davis had been a fan favorite and a reliable interior presence, but the arrival of Porzingis made him expendable.
The emotional toll of seeing a teammate traded hours before a game can often sink a team’s morale. Instead, it seemed to galvanize the Warriors’ bench. Players like Santos and Spencer, fighting for their own roster security, played with a desperate energy that Phoenix couldn’t match.
The Big Picture: Western Conference implications
This win may look like just one of 82 in the box score, but its timing is critical for Golden State.
Sitting on the fringe of the playoff picture in a loaded Western Conference, every game matters. Stealing a win on the road against a direct competitor like Phoenix—without your best player—is a “found money” game. It provides a buffer as the team prepares to integrate Porzingis and navigate Curry’s knee rehabilitation.
For Phoenix, the loss is a warning sign. The Suns’ depth has been tested all season by injuries to their “Big Three.” While Brooks and Allen have performed admirably, the team lacks reliable playmaking when Booker is absent. The fourth-quarter execution—stagnant isolation plays and turnovers—highlighted the need for a true point guard in the rotation, a hole the front office failed to address at the deadline.
Furthermore, if Allen’s knee injury proves serious, the Suns are in precarious territory. With Booker’s ankle already a concern and Jalen Green dealing with a nagging hip issue, losing their third-leading scorer for an extended period could send Phoenix tumbling down the standings.
Tactical Analysis: Small Ball vs. The Void
Tactically, the game was a fascinating case study in Kerr’s adaptability. Without a dominant center (having traded TJD and Porzingis not active), Kerr reverted to classic “Warriors Basketball.”
He utilized Draymond Green at the five for stretches, but also trusted lineups that featured three or four guards. This speed advantage proved crucial in the fourth quarter. The Warriors were able to switch everything on defense, denying the Suns’ shooters open looks.
Offensively, without Curry’s gravity, they relied on ball movement. Golden State attempted 37 three-pointers in the first half alone, making 15. This high-variance strategy is risky, but necessary when lacking star power. By spreading the floor, they opened driving lanes for Melton and Santos late in the game.
The Suns, conversely, failed to exploit their size advantage inside. Despite having physical wings, they settled for jump shots. Phoenix shot just 6-for-19 in the fourth quarter, a testament to Golden State’s perimeter defense but also a failure of Phoenix’s shot selection.
Looking Ahead
The road doesn’t get easier for either team.
The Warriors (record undisclosed, but fighting for position) head to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Saturday. The headline will be the potential debut of Kristaps Porzingis, but the status of Stephen Curry remains the primary concern. If Curry remains out, the Warriors will need another miracle performance from their supporting cast to compete with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
However, this win in Phoenix provides a blueprint. It proved that the system still works. It proved that players like Pat Spencer and Gui Santos are legitimate NBA contributors.
“We believe in everyone in this locker room,” De’Anthony Melton said. “We know what people say when Steph is out. But we’re pros. We practice hard. Tonight showed what we can do when we play together.”
For the Suns, they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. They will likely be holding their breath for the MRI results on Grayson Allen’s knee. If they are forced to face Joel Embiid and the Sixers without Booker, Green, and Allen, they could be staring at a losing streak at the worst possible time of the year.
Conclusion
February NBA games can often blend together, but Thursday night in Phoenix was special. It was a reminder of the league’s unpredictability.
On paper, a Warriors lineup featuring Pat Spencer and Gui Santos closing a game against a veteran Suns team should have been a mismatch. But basketball isn’t played on paper. It’s played on effort, execution, and momentum.
The Warriors found all three in the fourth quarter. They erased a 14-point hole, silenced a hostile crowd, and welcomed the Porzingis era with a victory that signaled they are not ready to fade away just yet.
As the buzzer sounded and Melton laid in the final points, the Warriors’ bench erupted. It wasn’t an NBA Finals win. It wasn’t a playoff clincher. But for a team in transition, battered by injuries and fatigued by trade rumors, it was exactly what they needed.
Final Score: Golden State Warriors 101, Phoenix Suns 97.