Memorial Jordan's Game-Saving Shot Comes Up Short Again!
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trailing 118-116 with 5. 2 seconds remaining in regulation, the Los Angeles Lakers knew Austin Reaves would intentionally miss his second free throw attempt against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Recovering it himself to hit a game-tying floater with 1.
9 seconds to go, propelling the Lakers to a vital 127-125 overtime victory , that was something else entirely. “Yeah, it’s the perfect miss,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “You got to have a perfect miss at that time, and great timing.
He was able to hit it off that left side of the rim, recover it, and then still make a tough floater. Perfect execution on his part. ” Reaves came to the line knowing that would be the last best chance to try to steal an extra possession.
It was the second time the Nuggets had fouled him with a three-point lead in the last 9. 9 seconds so the Lakers couldn't attempt a tying 3-pointer, and a third such exchange would have almost certainly left Denver with the advantage, as Reaves explained it. “So it’s kind of tough to play the foul game because you make the free throw, you’re down one, you’re basically banking on them missing a free throw because you’re going to have to take it the full length of the court,” Reaves said.
“And the easiest time to foul when you’re up three is when you got to go full court. You got to dribble the ball full court, so I think with how the time situation was with five seconds, it was just kind of a no-brainer. ” But missing in such a way that the Lakers would have a meaningful chance at recovery to attempt another shot is something no one, not even Reaves — a career 86.