Nuggets, Lakers Stars React to Austin Reaves' Heroic Game-Saving Play

The Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers had an overtime thriller on Saturday night. While Luka Doncic's game-winner with 0.5 seconds left in the extra period was the ultimate highlight of the game, Austin Reaves' heroic play at the end of regulation was the true savior for the Lakers.

The Nuggets went up by three with just five seconds left, and made the strategic decision to foul Reaves so they could not get a three-point attempt off. However, that ended up being tragic. Reaves made the first free-throw and intentionally missed the second so that it bounced right back to him, and he sank the resulting floater to tie the game and force overtime.

Miss to the left on purpose.
Grab it.
Shoot it.
Sink it.

PICTURE-PERFECT EXECUTION BY AUSTIN REAVES! https://t.co/8ivh0JYck7 pic.twitter.com/f3RCCEfYNA
— NBA (@NBA) March 15, 2026

Of course, this play caught plenty of attention after the game, with players on both teams reacting to the heroic effort by Reaves.

Jokic, Gordon, and Johnson react to the play

The Nuggets players were on the unfortunate side of such an incredible play by Reaves, but they had nothing but praise for the Lakers guard and his against-all-odds missed free-throw. Aaron Gordon shared his thoughts on the play.

"Great play, man," Gordon said. "He's a skilled player. Really skilled player. He's a talented guy, so just in the flow of the game, it worked out for him. Tip your cap to him."

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic did not have much to say about the play, but he credited the "perfect bounce" on the rebound that led to the game-saving floater.

"I mean, it's a really good play," Jokic simply put. "He [got a] perfect bounce. He got the ball off his rebound, and he made a floater."

Nuggets forward Cam Johnson had a different reaction to the play, saying they are to blame for Reaves' heroics because they allowed him to get the offensive rebound.

"Yeah, it's a tough thing to do," Johnson said. "To execute that like they did. For us, we've just gotta kind of get a body on everybody and make it a little bit more murky. And that includes the shooter. So yeah, it's a really tough play to make, but we gave it up."

Overall, the vibes in the Nuggets' locker room were down after Saturday's loss, and the combination of Reaves' heroic play at the end of regulation and Doncic's game-winner in overtime certainly crushed their spirits.

Lakers superstars amazed by Reaves' play

To no surprise, the Lakers' stars were in much better spirits after the intense win on Saturday. Doncic was amazed by Reaves' play at the end of regulation, giving his backcourt mate credit.

"It was kind of amazing," Doncic said. "JJ [Redick] told me to tell AR [Austin Reaves] to miss right, so he missed left. So it was a good play. No, but actually, it's very hard to do. And just for him to tie the game, that gave us a win basically. ... It was the perfect way. You miss on the side and get your own rebound, and the execution was perfection."

Luka Dončić discusses Austin Reaves’ perfectly executed free throw sequence, the team’s late-game effort, and the read on his game-winning shot. pic.twitter.com/Ya8ABrTo6Q
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 15, 2026

Superstar forward LeBron James had a similar reaction to Doncic, calling it the "perfect miss" by Reaves to save the game.

"Yeah, it's the perfect miss. You have to have the perfect miss at that time, and great timing. He was able to hit it off the left side of the rim, recover, and still make a tough floater. Perfect execution on his part," James said.

Of course, this was a wild play by Reaves that managed to work out in the Lakers' favor. This type of missed free-throw attempt rarely works, but the Lakers guard pulled it off to a T. He certainly deserves some credit, but it was complete heartbreak for the Nuggets.