Lakers beat Nuggets in overtime as Wemby drives Spurs to win

Luka Doncic hit a baseline shot with a half-second left in overtime on Saturday, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a dramatic 127-125 victory over Denver in the NBA, their fifth consecutive win.

Doncic, the NBA's leading scorer, posted a triple-double with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, thwarting a triple-double by Denver's Nikola Jokic, who scored 24 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 14 assists.

"This game was very big," Doncic said. "We've still got a long way to the playoffs. We've got to approach every game the same way."

The game only went to overtime because Los Angeles' Austin Reaves, who scored a game-high 32 points, grabbed the rebound of his own missed free throw and made a tying basket from the left side with 1.9 seconds left in regulation time.

"Saw they only had one person on that side so tried to miss on that side and go make a play," Reaves said. "I've made it once before but not to this magnitude."

The score was tied again late in overtime, before Doncic's heroic final play.

"I just wanted to get my shot off," the Slovenian superstar said. "I saw there was an opening so I went to the other side. Went to my step back, I've worked on this, and trust my shot."

The Lakers squandered a 17-point lead and then rallied from an eight-point Denver lead in the final quarter, winning to stand with a 42-25 record, third in the Western Conference, while the Nuggets fell to 41-27, sixth in the West.

"That's the best I've ever seen the crowd here," Doncic said.

The Lakers won the regular-season series against Denver, a key advantage in the event of a tie in the standings.

In San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama turned in a brilliant all-around performance to lead the Spurs to a 115-102 victory over Charlotte.

Wembanyama scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed 12 reboundsfor San Antonio's 17th win in 19 games.

The 22-year-old, 6-foot-2 French center added eight assists, three blocks and two steals to avenge a January loss at Charlotte.

"That might have been my worst defensive game all year," Wembanyama said. "So yeah, we had to make a statement today."

The Spurs improved their record to 49-18, second-best in the NBA and only three games behind West-leading Oklahoma City.

"What's next is pretty straightforward. We want to win everything," Wembanyama said.

"We've got one disadvantage is that we don't got experience. But that can be an advantage, too, because if we don't know it's impossible we might still do it."

Wembanyama is concerned about keeping his body healthy heading into the upcoming postseason and in his quest for individual awards: the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Defensive Player of the Year trophies.

"In my mind it's taking great care of my body because I also want to win the MVP and defensive player of the year," Wembanyama said.

Wembanyama scored four points and dished out an assist in a 12-0 Spurs run to take a 104-88 lead with 6:05 minutes remaining.

Hawks' streak reaches nine

The Atlanta Hawks extended their winning streak to nine games, a streak they had not achieved since the 2014-15 season, as they defeated visiting Milwaukee 122-99.

Jalen Johnson posted a triple-double for the Hawks with 23 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, while C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 30 points for Atlanta.

Orlando's winning streak reached seven games with a 121-117 victory at Miami, ending the Heat's seven-game winning streak thanks to Paolo Banchero's 27 points and Desmond Bane's 21.