For 30 ½ minutes on Saturday night, the Lakers were in the driver’s seat while they were hosting the Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena.
They had the better start to the game. They defended energetically and with attention to detail. And even when they had slip ups, the Nuggets’ ice-cold 3-point shooting to start helped the Lakers maintain a comfortable advantage.
Then the Nuggets started to make their 3s. And the Lakers’ didn’t fall as frequently as they did early on, opening up the cracks in their defense to the point of blowing a 17-point second quarter and 12-point third quarter lead.
But the Lakers, led by their star players, made the biggest plays when they mattered with Luka Doncic making the biggest with a game-winning 17-foot fadeaway jumper to give the Lakers a 127-125 dramatic win over the Nuggets.
And then he made another when he blocked Tim Hardaway Jr.’s last second-shot attempt, sealing the victory for the Lakers.
Doncic didn’t have the most efficient shooting night (10 of 26), but he recorded a 30 point-13 assist-11 rebound triple-double.
Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists, making big plays in his own right during a game several Laker plays did.
Marcus Smart made five 3-pointers and recorded five steals, finishing with 21 points, while LeBron James added 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with a 24 point-16 rebound-14 assist triple-double.
What it means
The Lakers improved to 42-25 on the season, moving back up to third in the West’s standings.
They won the regular season series over the Nuggets (41-27), 2-1, with Denver staying at sixth in the West.
The Lakers are on a five-game winning streak.
Turning point
With the Lakers down 118-116 with 5.2 seconds left in regulation, Reaves intentionally missed his second free throw before hitting an eight-foot floater to tie the game at 118 apiece.
MVP: Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves
Both of the Lakers star guards made big plays down the stretch to put the Lakers in position to beat the Nuggets.
Stat of the game: 62
That’s how many points Doncic and Reaves combined for, continuing a strong run a play from the star duo.
Up next
The Lakers will kick off a six-game road trip when they play the Rockets on Monday at Toyota Center.
It’ll be the first of two matchups in Houston, with the Lakers playing the Rockets again on Wednesday.
