Reaves saves Lakers at the buzzer as Jokic delivers another masterclass

Austin Reaves once again hung up his superhero cape to lead a Lakers without LeBron James or Luka Doncic. The shooting guard made the buzzer-beating basket that allowed the Angelenos to win by the narrowest of margins (116-115) over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The other big star of the night was Nikola Jokic. The Serbian player notched his fourth triple double of the season to lead the Nuggets to a win over the Pelicans

Reaves, who reached 51 points in a win over the Suns on Sunday, scored 28 this time (9-24 shooting from the field) and dished out 16 assists in the Lakers' second win in their last three games without their leading duo.

The visitors built a 20-point lead in the third quarter, taking advantage of the fact that the Timberwolves were without star Anthony Edwards. Still the home team was up 115-114 with 10 seconds left. Reaves took over on the final possession, dribbled past two defenders and launched a layup that went in just as time expired.

"They'll probably tell me I suck because I missed like 14 shots," Reaves joked about the messages he'll get from Doncic and LeBron.

Jokic's fourth exhibition, unstoppable again

Nikola Jokic kept up his full complement of triple-double performances in the Denver Nuggets' 122-88 thrashing of the New Orleans Pelicans, one of three teams without a win on the campaign.

The Serbian center finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to become the third player to open a season with four triple doubles.

The feat was previously accomplished by Oscar Robertson (1961) and Russell Westbrook (2020).

Splitter continues to win with Portland

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz 136-134 on the road for their second straight win under Tiago Splitter. The first Brazilian coach in the NBA is 3-1 since relieving Chauncey Billups off the bench last Thursday.

Billups, a Hall of Famer as a player, is suspended by the league in the wake of his arrest by the FBI, which points to him as a member of a fixed poker game scheme and also hints that he may have leaked information about his team to gamblers.

The Blazers, a franchise that hasn't qualified for the playoffs since 2021, had previously beaten the Warriors and Lakers. In Utah, their top scorer was veteran point guard Jrue Holiday with 27 points while Finland's Lauri Markkanen reached 32 for the Jazz.

Celtic pride to surprise the Cavaliers

The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 125-105 giving a joy to their fans, resigned to a season without great expectations due to the serious injury of their leader, Jayson Tatum.

Jaylen Brown, Boston's other big man, came up with 30 points and Spanish rookie Hugo Gonzalez was held to 4 in this unexpected win over Cleveland, one of the favorites to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

Their leader, Donovan Mitchell, was doubtful until the last minute due to hamstring problems and was held to just 15 points and 6 assists.

Injuries to Young and Anthony Davis

The day also recorded injuries to Trae Young and Anthony Davis whose extent was not yet determined.

Trae Young suffered a sprained right knee in the first quarter of the Atlanta Hawks' 117-112 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Davis, meanwhile, also left in the opening quarter of the Dallas Mavericks' twin against the Indiana Pacers (107-105)after a jarring fall. The Mavericks described the injury as "lower leg soreness."