Luka Doncic hit a baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds left, and the host Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 127-125 in overtime on Saturday night.
Doncic finished with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season. With its fifth straight win, Los Angeles clinched the season series against Denver.
Austin Reaves had 32 points, including a bucket in the final seconds of the fourth to send it to overtime. Marcus Smart added 21 points and LeBron James scored 17 for the Lakers.
Smart’s fifth 3-pointer of the night gave Los Angeles a 125-123 lead with 30 seconds left in overtime. Nikola Jokic tied it with 15.1 seconds left but Doncic’s 17-foot fadeaway won it for the hosts.
Jokic had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists for his 27th triple-double of the season and fifth in his last six games. Aaron Gordon finished with 27 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 20, Cam Johnson scored 18 and Bruce Brown and Christian Braun had 12 apiece for the Nuggets.
Both teams struggled to hit shots in the overtime before Deandre Ayton’s floater gave the Lakers a 122-120 lead. Gordon hit Denver’s first field goal, a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left, to make it 123-122, setting up the final moments.
Hardaway’s 3-pointer to open the fourth gave the Nuggets a 90-87 lead, their first since the opening minutes of the game, and then went ahead 106-98 with 5:13 left.
It was a seven-point Denver lead when Doncic hit a 3-pointer and drained three free throws with 1:57 left to tie it at 109. Gordon hit a corner 3-pointer, Reaves made a driving layup and Smart had a steal and layup to give the Lakers a 113-112 lead with 47 seconds left.
Hardaway hit a corner 3-pointer to put the Nuggets back in front, and Gordon split a pair of free throws to make it 116-113. It was 118-115 when Reaves was fouled with 5.6 seconds left. He made the first, intentionally missed the second, got the rebound and scored to send it to overtime.
