Lakers' Reaves, Doncic deliver late-game magic in OT thriller - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — On a night where seemingly every player on the Lakers made a big play to lift them to a 127-125 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, perhaps none was bigger than a missed shot by Austin Reaves.

In this case, it was an intentionally missed shot from the throw line by Reaves with 5.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Reaves flung the ball off the left side of the front of the rim, chased down the offensive rebound and tossed in a 9-foot floater with 1.9 seconds left to tie the score at 118 and force overtime.

«I mean, I knew I was going to miss,» said Reaves, who led L.A. with 32 points, topping 30 for the third straight game. «I wasn't going to give the ball an opportunity to go in. Some people shoot it high and they end up making it on accident. But I don't think my ball ever got over 10 feet.»

Deandre Ayton was the only Lakers player lined up on the left block, and he boxed three-time MVP Nikola Jokic under the basket, allowing Reaves a clear path to pursue the carom.

«It was very hard to do, and just for him to tie the game, that gave us the win, basically,» Luka Doncic said. «That execution was perfection.»

And it set up more late-game magic from Doncic at the end of the extra session when, with the score tied, he hit an 18-foot step-back, fadeaway jump shot with 0.5 remaining to put the Lakers up by two. Then on Denver's ensuing possession, he blocked former teammate Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 3-pointer at the buzzer to seal it.

«Went to my left hand, to my left stepback,» Doncic said. «I did that a couple times throughout my career, so I just trust the shot.»

While Doncic — who finished with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his eighth triple-double of the season — was modest about