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 Minute Report released Sunday.
With 9.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets up 116-113, Lakers guard Austin Reaves headed to the free throw line following a foul by Spencer Jones immediately after the ball was inbounded.
However, according to the report, Jones “cleanly dislodges the ball away from Reaves” in what should have been a clean strip with the ball going out of bounds. Instead, Reaves headed to the line and drew the Lakers to within one point. It’s unclear from the report whether the Lakers would have retained possession following the strip or whether it would have been ruled a turnover.
Reaves then stunned the Nuggets in his next trip to the line following a pair of free throws from Cameron Johnson to push the lead back up to three. The Lakers guard sunk the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second before gathering the rebound and tying the game with a floater.
The Lakers went on to beat the Nuggets in overtime 127-125 off a Luka Doncic game-winning jumper.
