Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves went through a roller coaster of emotions during Saturday night’s win over the Denver Nuggets.
With the team trailing by two in the final minute, Reaves got stripped by Nikola Jokic on a drive to the basket and it looked like the Lakers were gonna lose as a result.
The Nuggets missed a free throw on the ensuing possession though, so they were up by three and the Lakers had one final chance. As is the case in a lot of these scenarios, Denver played the foul game so they didn’t give up a 3-pointer.
After exchanging free throws, it got to the point where Reaves needed to miss on purpose as both teams were out of timeouts. In a play that gets attempted a lot but never really works, Reaves perfectly threw the ball off the rim, got his own rebound, and then made a layup as time expired to send the game to overtime. The Lakers went on to pull it out in the extra period, giving them one of their best wins of the season.
While all of this was going on, Reaves chose to profess his love to the basketball itself, as was captured in a viral clip:
Austin Reaves said "I love you" to the ball after his clutch shot 😂❤️ https://t.co/0J9yTjyUwj pic.twitter.com/0qDfw3DdYF
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 15, 2026
After the win, Reaves explained why he did that and went through the range of emotions he felt in that final minute.
“I don’t really say much to the ball. It’s usually bad words. It’s usually when it’s not acting right. But like I said on the court, Luka got doubled, we were down two, threw it to me, I think I might’ve double dribbled, but went for a layup, Jokic got a good strip. Obviously was frustrated, wish I could’ve did better in that moment. But it eventually ended up working out.”
Reaves led all scorers with 32 points in the win on 12-of-21 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. He has gotten back to his pre-injury form in recent weeks, making the Lakers as dangerous as anyone going into the postseason as Luka Doncic is also playing at an MVP level.
Luka Doncic enjoyed atmosphere in Lakers win over Nuggets
As could be expected, everyone was on the edge of their seats as the Lakers came back to squeak out a win over the Nuggets. And one person who enjoyed the atmosphere was Luka Doncic.
“I feel like it was the best atmosphere since I was a Laker,” Doncic said. “The whole crowd was in, it was special to witness that. Hopefully it happens more times, I had goosebumps a little bit.”
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