NBA roundup: Lakers’ Doncic hits winner with 0.5 seconds remaining in OT

LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic made a fall-away jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining in overtime and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 127-125 on Saturday night.

Austin Reaves forced overtime when he rebounded his intentionally missed free throw and made a floater with 1.9 seconds remaining in regulation.

Doncic created enough distance from Spencer Jones to make the 17-foot shot, finishing with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds as he continued his spectacular play during Los Angeles’ five-game winning streak. Doncic then blocked Tim Hardaway Jr.’s desperation heave following a Denver timeout.

Reaves finished with 32 points, making the first free throw and then perfectly executing his missed second attempt off the front of the rim after the Nuggets fouled him to prevent a tying 3-point attempt leading 118-115 with 5.2 seconds left.

Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists for his 27th triple-double of the season. Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 27 points and Hardaway finished with 20.

Jamal Murray fouled out 31 seconds into overtime, finishing with five points, six rebounds and six assists on a miserable 1-for-14 night.

Houston, the Lakers, Denver and Minnesota all came into Saturday with 41 wins as they jockey to be as high as the third seed in the Western Conference. The Nuggets already held tiebreakers over the Rockets and Timberwolves by virtue of having won the season series against both teams, but the Lakers denied them a clean sweep in the crowded middle.

PHILADELHPIA — Quentin Grimes scored a season-high 28 points and Philadelphia held on for a victory over Brooklyn.

Grimes had eight rebounds for the short-handed 76ers, who were missing Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr., among other players. Justin Edwards scored 19 points while adding three steals.

Danny Wolf had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who lost their third straight game. Josh Minott added 14 points.

The 76ers entered halftime up 53-31. Adem Bona’s free throw with 3:02 left in the fourth quarter gave Philadelphia the lead for good at 88-87.

ATLANTA — CJ McCollum scored 30 points, Jalen Johnson had his 12th triple-double of the season and Atlanta beat Milwaukee Bucks for its ninth straight victory.

Johnson finished with 23 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds as Atlanta extended the longest current winning streak in the NBA. McCollum made seven 3-pointers and moved ahead of Paul Pierce into 16th place on the career list with 2,147.

Canada’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 20 points for the Hawks, who led 60-52 after a first half with six lead changes and four ties. The Hawks then broke it open in the third quarter by outscoring Milwaukee 35-26, with McCollum scoring 11.

Ryan Rollins scored 22 points for the Bucks, who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo after he sprained his left ankle during Milwaukee’s 112-105 loss to Miami on Thursday. Kevin Porter Jr. added 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama had 32 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks in his return from a one-game absence, leading San Antonio to a victory over Charlotte.

Miles Bridges had 22 points and Kon Knueppel added 20 for Charlotte, which had won two straight and eight of 10.

The Spurs have won 17 of 19 to tighten their grip on second in the Western Conference. San Antonio (49-18) is 7 1/2 games ahead of No. 3 Houston (41-25) and three games behind Oklahoma City (52-15) for first.

The Spurs closed their longest homestand 5-1, with their only loss coming as Wembanyama watched from the bench because of a sore right calf in a 136-131 loss to Denver on Thursday that snapped a five-game winning streak.

Wembanyama had an immediate impact with 18 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the first half.

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum had 20 points and 14 rebounds in a season-high 32 minutes, Neemias Queta had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Boston withstood a late charge to beat Washington for its 11th straight loss.

Tatum had his second double-double since making his season debut earlier this month. Jaylen Brown added 16 points to help the Celtics snap a two-game skid.

Boston’s lead grew to 30 points in the third quarter, but Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla kept Tatum on the court to allow him to reach a high for minutes in the four games he’s played in since his return from Achilles tendon surgery. He had been capped at 27 minutes in his previous three games.

Washington, which was coming off erasing a 17-point deficit to force overtime in a loss at Orlando on Thursday, chopped Boston’s lead to 12 in the fourth quarter. But the Celtics got a layup from Tatum and 3-pointer by Sam Hauser to help them close it out.

Tristan Vukcevic had 22 points to lead the Wizards.

MIAMI — Paolo Banchero scored 27 points, Desmond Bane added 21 and Orlando beat Miami, becoming the second team in the last 30 years to beat the same opponent five times in one season.

Wendell Carter Jr. scored 15 for the Magic, who won their seventh straight and snapped Miami’s season-best, seven-game winning streak.

Orlando led by as many as 22, before Miami twice got within two in the final 18.5 seconds.

Orlando (38-28) moved a game clear of Miami (38-30) in the race for fifth in the Eastern Conference, plus is 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2023-24 season.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 22, while Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell each had 20 for Miami, which hadn’t gone 0-5 against one team since doing so against New York — then coached by now-Heat President Pat Riley — in 1992-93.

The only other instance in the last three decades: New Orleans went 5-0 against Sacramento in 2023-24.