LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic made a fall-away jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining in overtime and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 127-125, on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
Austin Reaves forced overtime when he rebounded his intentionally missed free throw and made a floater with 1.9 seconds remaining in regulation.
Doncic created enough distance from Spencer Jones to make the 17-foot shot, finishing with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds as he continued his spectacular play during Los Angeles’ five-game winning streak. Doncic then blocked Tim Hardaway Jr.’s desperation heave following a Denver timeout.
Reaves finished with 32 points, making the first free throw and then perfectly executing his missed second attempt off the front of the rim after the Nuggets fouled him to prevent a tying 3-point attempt leading 118-115 with 5.2 seconds left.
Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists for his 27th triple-double of the season. Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 27 points and Hardaway finished with 20.
Jamal Murray fouled out 31 seconds into overtime, finishing with five points, six rebounds and six assists on a miserable 1-for-14 night.
Houston, the Lakers, Denver and Minnesota all came into Saturday with 41 wins as they jockey to be as high as the third seed in the Western Conference. The Nuggets already held tiebreakers over the Rockets and Timberwolves by virtue of having won the season series against both teams, but the Lakers denied them a clean sweep in the crowded middle.
Deandre Ayton had four of his nine points in overtime and Marcus Smart hit a 3-pointer to put Los Angeles up with 30 seconds left, only for Jokic to score a driving layup up off the glass over Ayton to tie it with 15.1 to go.
Meanwhile, Paolo Banchero scored 27 points, Desmond Bane added 21 and the Orlando Magic beat the Miami Heat, 121-117, becoming the second team in the last 30 years to beat the same opponent five times in one season.
Wendell Carter Jr. scored 15 for the Magic, who won their seventh straight and snapped Miami’s season-best, seven-game winning streak.
Orlando led by as many as 22, before Miami twice got within two in the final 18.5 seconds.
Orlando (38-28) moved a game clear of Miami (38-30) in the race for fifth in the Eastern Conference, plus is 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2023-24 season.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 22, while Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell each had 20 for Miami, which hadn’t gone 0-5 against one team since doing so against New York — then coached by now-Heat President Pat Riley — in 1992-93.
The only other instance in the last three decades: New Orleans went 5-0 against Sacramento in 2023-24.
The Heat got Tyler Herro and Powell back from injuries, with Herro starting and Powell coming off the bench for the first time since 2023-24 with the Los Angeles Clippers. Herro scored 10.
