Austin Reaves pulled a rabbit out of his hat on Saturday night against the Denver Nuggets.
The Los Angeles Lakers guard Reaves worked some absolute magic to end regulation at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif. The Nuggets were ahead 118-115 with just 5.2 seconds and no timeouts remaining for the Lakers.
Rather than allowing the Lakers to get off a potential game-tying three-point attempt, Denver intentionally fouled Reaves to give him two free throws instead. Reaves made the first free throw and then pulled off an all-time miracle with his second free throw attempt.
The 27-year-old star Reaves fired a projectile off the rim to intentionally miss the shot and wound up producing the perfect bounce. The ball caromed off to the left side of the basket (where there was only one Nuggets player in the area), and Reaves picked the ball up himself before hitting a game-tying floater.
Here is the unbelievable video.
AUSTIN REAVES GRABS THE BOARD OFF HIS OWN MISSED FREE THROW AND TIES THE GAME
— NBA (@NBA) March 15, 2026
WE ARE GOING TO OT! pic.twitter.com/aPZAJkEpxM
That could not have been executed any better by Reaves. The ball landed in a perfect pocket of space for Reaves to chase down, and the angle meant that the nearest defender, Denver forward Spencer Jones, was behind Reaves and unable to contest the ensuing baseline floater attempt.
Even better for the Lakers is that they went on to win the game in overtime by a final score of 127-125. Meanwhile, that play by Reaves was superior (given the circumstances) to the similar one that Detroit star Cade Cunningham pulled off earlier this season.
