The Lakers entered a critical six-game stretch Saturday that could very well determine their playoff position in the competitive Western Conference postseason race.
Behind the heroics of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers defeated Denver in a 127-125 overtime thriller at Crypto.com Arena that secured a playoff seeding tiebreaker over the Nuggets.
Doncic made an 18-foot jumper over Spencer Jones and Bruce Brown with less than a second left in overtime to secure the win. While Doncic will get a lot of the credit for the outcome, the play of Austin Reaves, Deande Ayton and Marcus Smart in overtime also played a critical role.
Ayton scored four of his nine points in overtime and Smart drilled an important three-pointer late as the Lakers (42-25) won their fifth straight game and moved back into third place in the West with 15 games remaining.
It was dueling triple-doubles between two stars, with Doncic putting up 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds and Nikola Jokic finishing with 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists.
Reaves, who finished with 32 points, seven rebounds, six assists, forced overtime when he intentionally missed a free throw, got the rebound and scored on a floater to tie the score 118-118 with 1.9 seconds remaining. He made his first free throw with 5.2 seconds remaining.
Lakers win a thriller, 127-125. Luka Doncic hits the game-winner to finish with 30 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds. Austin Reaves 32 points, sevenr rebounds, six assists and the huge basket to force overtime. Marcus Smart 21 points, five made threes. Game of the Lakers season. pic.twitter.com/XKe6kV7KAn
— Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) March 15, 2026
“I mean, it’s not easy. I’m just mad I had to mess up my free-throw percentage,” Reaves joked. “You see two people on the right side, one was on the left, obviously DA [Ayton] and Joker [Jokic] were on the left side. I thought if I threw it fast enough that Jokic wouldn’t have the time to get his hands up to grab the ball. So, that was kind of the thought process and it worked.”
In overtime, Smart, who finished with 21 points, made a three-pointer off an assist from Doncic for a 125-123 lead, but Jokic responded by scoring over Ayton with 15.1 seconds left to tie the score.
With the Nuggets (41-27) on the verge of winning the season series, Doncic then scored with half a second left to give the Lakers their eighth win in nine games.
“I saw the double coming, so I rejected, went to my left hand, to my left step-back,” Doncic said. “I did it a couple times throughout my career, so I just trust the shot.”
Lakers star Luka Doncic scores the winning basket over Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones in overtime Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
LeBron James finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“So many guys made winning plays and we went into this game saying that we’re going to treat this game like a playoff game,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “This time of the year, with the standings the way they are, a chance to get the tiebreaker over Denver, treat this like a playoff game.
“It wasn’t perfect. But they stuck with it. So, the winning plays really stood out and then, just their ability in high-pressure situations to execute multiple end-of-game situations was really high level.”
Jokic finished with 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists.
“We gotta do our job and that’s to make shots and we try our best every night,” Smart said. “Sometimes they fall, sometimes they don’t. But to have that trust from your teammates, to have another chance to redeem yourself, it felt good.”
Lakers star LeBron James dives for the ball between Denver Nuggets guards Christian Braun, left, and Jamal Murray in overtime Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers will look to continue their recent surge on a six-game trip that starts this week. They will face the Rockets twice in Houston before a back-to-back game at Miami. They’ll finish the trip against Orlando, Detroit and Indiana. The Pacers are the only team with a record below .500.
But after battling and winning against the Nuggets, the Lakers like where they are headed.
“It was only fitting that everybody on the floor did something, did something to get us that win,” Doncic said.
