On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers continued their winning ways with an impressive home win in overtime over the Denver Nuggets. After Austin Reaves brought the game into extra period with some heroics late in regulation, Luka Doncic won things for Los Angeles with the game winner in the final frame, giving the Lakers their fifth consecutive win in the process.
There was a playoff-like atmosphere at Crypto.com Arena for most of the evening, and after the game, Doncic made sure to give a shout-out to the fans in attendance for the matchup.
X, formerly on Twitter According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Doncic said, "I felt like it was the best environment because I've been a Laker... I had goosebumps."
Indeed, there were several notable "crowd pops" on ESPN's broadcast of the game, including perhaps the loudest when Doncic's final jumper found the bottom of the net with .5 on the clock in overtime.
At times it felt like this game was following the familiar script of many Lakers vs. Nuggets matchups over the years, with Los Angeles getting off to a strong start, Denver eventually taking control late, and things going down to the wire. However, in most cases, it seems like the Nuggets made the biggest plays during the game and won, but that was not the case on Saturday night, as Los Angeles produced several great performances to pick up the win.
It also helped matters that legendary Lakers killer Jamal Murray only scored five points in this one and ultimately fouled out.
The win allowed the Lakers to move back into third place in the vaunted Western Conference. They will take the field on Monday evening for the first set of two games against the Houston Rockets.
