Lakers player grades: Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic win overtime thriller
· Yahoo Sports
Over the last three calendar years, the Los Angeles Lakers have been mostly unable to beat the Denver Nuggets, especially when it has mattered most. On Saturday, they faced a critical late-season game versus Denver that had definite playoff implications, and for a period of time, it looked like the same bad movie their fans have witnessed over the past few years.
While Los Angeles took control in the first half and built as much as a 17-point lead, the Nuggets fought back in the third quarter and turned this into a dogfight. They took the lead early in the fourth quarter, and when they were up 109-102 with less than four minutes to go, it looked like they would prevail yet again against LeBron James and crew.
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But the Lakers have been outstanding in clutch games (defined by the NBA as a margin of five points or fewer in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter) this season, and they showed lots of resolve. Despite committing some costly turnovers, they gave themselves a chance to win, and Austin Reaves turned out to be their biggest hero.
With 6.4 seconds left and the Lakers down 118-115, Cameron Johnson committed an intentional foul on Reaves to prevent him from getting off a shot. Reaves made the first free throw, then he intentionally missed the second free throw by shooting it flat, short and a bit to his left. He instantly pounced on the carom and got the basketball back, then he made a short shot on the baseline that forced overtime.
Overtime was a slugfest, but Los Angeles had a little more punch than the Nuggets, which set the stage for Luka Doncic to be its other hero. He drove to the left and evaded multiple defenders to hit a baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining, resulting in a 127-125 win for them. It was Doncic's first game-winning shot as a member of the Lakers.
They showed not only fight but also the type of resourcefulness that they hadn't shown enough of earlier in the season. The team was plus-five in rebounding, and while it committed 17 turnovers, it turned 16 Nuggets turnovers into 33 points. It also outscored the Nuggets by 12 in the paint, and overall, it shot 51.6% from the field.
The Lakers not only won their fifth game in a row and got their eighth victory in their last nine games, but they also won the season series versus Denver, which gives them the tiebreaker in case both teams finish with the same record. They now have a 42-25 record and are in third place in the Western Conference, and they're half a game ahead of the fourth-place Houston Rockets, the team they will face on the road in both of their next two contests.
Is the tide truly starting to turn for a Lakers team that went 20-20 in December, January and February and was unable to defeat good and great teams until recently?
Marcus Smart: A
Offensively, Smart was huge in this game. He made eight of his 15 shot attempts and five of his 12 3-point attempts, giving him 21 points, which made him the Lakers' third-leading scorer. In a game where the team had several unforced turnovers on bad or ill-advised passes, the guard had no turnovers in 35 minutes.
With 46.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter, he made a fast-break layup after stealing the ball from Aaron Gordon to put Los Angeles ahead by one point. He then hit a 3-pointer to give L.A. a 125-123 lead with 30.7 seconds to go in overtime, setting the scene for Doncic's heroics.
On the other end, Smart helped force Jamal Murray, that noted Lakers killer, into a horrendous outing. Murray, who is having a career season and loves to throw daggers into the hearts of the Lakers, went 1-of-14 from the field and scored five points before fouling out. Smart's defensive effort resulted in five steals and one block, and he also contributed three rebounds and two assists.
Deandre Ayton: B-plus
For much of this game, Ayton was relatively quiet, although he did good work on the boards throughout the evening. He wasn't on the court down the stretch of the fourth quarter, but coach JJ Redick subbed him in right before Reaves' final free throw of regulation that the guard missed on purpose.
In overtime, Ayton was huge. He played excellent defense on Nikola Jokić, who had a triple-double but made one of his four shot attempts in overtime. Ayton was physical with Jokic and didn't allow the three-time MVP to back him down and get prime position for easy chippies deep in the paint. He also scored L.A.'s first two buckets of overtime.
Overall, the big man had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, nine rebounds, two assists and one block, which came on a Jokic attempt in overtime, in 27 minutes. His stats may not reflect it, but he played a pivotal role in this pivotal victory.
LeBron James: B-minus
As he has lately, James picked his spots in this game, but he, too, made some big plays. With roughly a minute left in that fourth period, he went after a defensive rebound and dove on the floor to pursue the basketball, resulting in a jump ball between him and Murray. He didn't win the jump ball, but that's when Smart had a steal and a basket to give the Lakers a lead. Then, on the Lakers' first offensive possession of overtime, he drew Murray's sixth and final foul.
James finished with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, although he did have five turnovers.
Austin Reaves: A
Reaves will be remembered as the hero of this game for his intentionally missed free throw and subsequent basket that forced overtime. But he also did plenty to put his team in position to force overtime in the first place.
He scored nine of the Lakers' last 20 points of regulation to help them come back from a 106-98 deficit with just over five minutes left. He scored on a mid-range shot with just under five minutes left, then made a layup with 1:18 left to bring them to within one. With 9.2 seconds left and Los Angeles down by three, Reaves was fouled and made both free throws, as the Nuggets were determined not to let him get a shot off.
Then came his intentionally missed free throw, the rebound off that missed free throw and the basket that forced overtime. The degree of difficulty on that play cannot be understated — it is very difficult to intentionally miss a free throw to begin with, let alone get the ball back and then make a basket quickly enough. It is somewhat analogous to recovering an onside kick in football, except it is more difficult and perhaps even rarer to see.
Reaves finished with 32 points on 12-of-21 field-goal shooting, seven rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block. It was his third consecutive game with at least 30 points, and he has shot at least 50% in each of his last four games.
Luka Doncic: B-minus/B
Overall, this wasn't a good offensive outing for Doncic. He wasn't hitting his shot throughout the game, and he went 10-of-26 from the field and 4-of-14 from 3-point range while committing six turnovers. But he did score 30 points and log 13 assists and 11 rebounds, giving him his eighth triple-double of the season.
Then there were Doncic's crunch-time heroics. With the Lakers down 109-103 with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter, he hit one of his trademark step-back 3-pointers. After Murray missed, Doncic got fouled on another 3-point attempt and made all three foul shots to tie the score. Then came his game-winner in overtime that settled through the hoop just before the final horn could go off.
When Doncic came to the Lakers 13 months ago, he had started to build a reputation as one of the NBA's deadliest players in the clutch. On Saturday, he truly lived up to that reputation.
Rui Hachimura: C
Hachimura scored six points on 3-of-6 shooting, and all of his points came in the first half. In 25 minutes of playing time, he also contributed four rebounds.
Jake LaRavia: C
LaRavia continues to seemingly run away from some shot attempts, but he scored two buckets in the fourth quarter, both of which came within about five feet from the basket and helped keep the Lakers from falling out of contention. Those were his only two attempts of the game, and he ended up with four points, one rebound and one assist.
Jaxson Hayes: B
Hayes played 21 minutes, and in that time, he chipped in five points, four rebounds and one steal. He made three free throws down the stretch to help L.A. mount its comeback and force overtime.
Luke Kennard: C
Kennard was quiet in this game. In 16 minutes, he attempted just two shots and made one of them, giving him three points, to go along with one rebound and two assists.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic win overtime thriller