Despite a missed shot, Austin Reaves was the hero of the night. More than his game-high 32 points, his IQ for the game-tying shot went viral. This led to AR saying the three magical words, not to his long-time partner Jenna Barber or the Lakers teammate, but to the ball, which made it possible.

With 5.2 seconds to go and his team down two points, Reaves literally hit the rim perfectly in that situation and was lucky to grab his own rebound, even though it was uncontested. His 2 points would tie the game at 118, leaving Denver in no position to win.

As luck would have it, AR would grab the ball after Murray’s miss from near the half-court line. It was after the end of regulation when Reaves uttered to the ball, “I love you”. It’s not unusual for players to express their emotions on the court. AR did it by saying the most positive thing to the ball, which he often doesn’t.

After the game, he spoke to the media and stated that saying I love you to the ball is not an often-occurrence. “No, I don’t really say much to the ball. It’s usually bad words,” said Reaves. “It’s usually when it’s not acting right.”

His long-time girlfriend, Jenna Barber, was not at the game, but at home. However, she was quick to upload a story watching the game on TV, and her caption was also the special three words. “I love you.”

Both are originally from Newark, Arkansas, and the two have been dating, reportedly since 2014, while at Cedar Ridge High School. Barber often attends Lakers games and even plays golf with her partner. Despite not being present at Crypto.com Arena, it was an important effort from Austin Reaves that deserved to be celebrated.

JJ Redick had a different plan in mind for Austin Reaves

If the Lakers didn’t use the strategy of intentionally missing the free throw and fouling the Nuggets, they would have needed a three-point attempt with a second or two on the clock. Legends like Shaquille O’Neal opined that he was not a fan of this outcome. But JJ Redick came up with a solution rather than waiting for it to play out the traditional way.

“Actually, JJ told me to tell AR to miss right,” said Luka Doncic to the press. “So we miss left. So it was a good play. No, but actually that’s very hard to do and you know just for him to tie the game that gave us a win basically.” There was a reason why Austin Reaves did the opposite of what the head coach had stated.

AR was always in on the plan of missing the second free throw shot.” I mean, I knew I was going to miss. I wasn’t going to give the ball an opportunity to go in.” When AR was on the charity strip, only Nikola Jokic from the Nuggets was to his left, the rest two stars boxed to his right. The Joker was also not alone; Lakers center Deandre Ayton guarded him, and that’s where Reaves found his opening.

Despite JJ Redick’s plan to hit the ball to the right for a rebound, Austin did it to the left. “I thought if I threw it free fast enough, that Jokic wouldn’t have the time to get his hands up to grab the ball,” said Reaves. “So, this was the thought process, and it worked.” Austin literally hit the rim perfectly in that situation and was lucky to grab his own rebound, and his 2 points would tie the game. In the end ball also bounced to him, and his emotions came out, capping off the perfect display on Saturday night.