Austin Reaves stripped clean late in Lakers win, report says

Part of the wild sequence to end regulation in Saturday’s overtime thriller between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets came back as an incorrect call, according to the NBA’s Last Two Minutes report released Sunday.

With 9.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets leading 116-113, Lakers guard Austin Reaves headed to the free throw line following a foul by Spencer Jones immediately after the ball was inbounds.

However, according to the report, Jones “cleanly dislodged the ball from Reaves” in what should have been a clean strip with the ball going out of bounds. Instead, Reaves drove to the line and brought the Lakers within a point. It is unclear from the report whether the Lakers would have retained possession after the strip or whether it would have been considered a turnover.

Reaves then stunned the Nuggets on his next trip to the line after a pair of Cameron Johnson free throws to cut the lead to three. The Lakers guard made the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second before grabbing the rebound and tying the game with a floater.

The Lakers then beat the Nuggets in overtime 127-125 thanks to a game-winning jumper from Luka Doncic.