The Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets played one of the most thrilling games of the season Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, and the stakes were high.
Just half a game separated the two teams in the standings, and the matchup could ultimately serve as a tiebreaker if they finish with the same record by the end of the regular season.
With just five seconds remaining, the Lakers trailed by three with Austin Reaves at the free-throw line. He made the first and intentionally missed the second with what many basketball personalities would call the “perfect miss.” The ball hit the rim and bounced right back to him, allowing Reaves to grab the rebound and score the game-tying layup to force overtime.
In overtime, with the game tied in the final seconds, Luka Doncic knocked down a clean step-back mid-range jumper from the corner to put L.A. ahead by two with just 0.5 seconds remaining, ultimately sealing a 127–125 win for the Lakers.
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After the game, however, instead of praising the Lakers, both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal focused on criticism, pointing to L.A. blowing a double-digit lead in the second half and needing a miracle just to force overtime.
“If you have to rely on that, you’re not going to win and you’re not going to be a contender,” O’Neal said. “I’m used to playing for coaches that wouldn’t be happy with that game… You’re up 15 at home — you have to beat them by 15.”
“Watched a great game and all he can do is talk about the negatives, lmao,” one fan said.
Someone else added, “The way Shaquille O’Neal is hating on this team, you’d think he never played for them.”
Another person wrote, “Shaq, you would have missed the free throw — just not intentionally. Let’s be honest now.”
“He’s wrong. This is foolishness. They can’t say the Los Angeles Lakers are good to save their lives,” another fan commented.
“Shaq’s turned into a total hater if this is his big takeaway,” one more fan wrote.
Over the last month, many have suggested the Lakers were not true contenders and are a borderline No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.
As of now, they sit at No. 3 in the conference at 42–25 and are riding a five-game winning streak heading into another crucial stretch Monday and Wednesday, when they face the Houston Rockets in back-to-back matchups.
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