While the Los Angeles Lakers narrowly pulled off an overtime win against the Nuggets, Shaquille O’Neal saw it as a clear warning sign for the team. The 127-125 win over the Los Angeles Lakers also helped them to an 18 -6 record in clutch games, the best mark in the NBA. Despite their efforts, franchise legend Shaquille O’Neal had sent a warning.

Luka Doncic once again emerged as the hero with a game-winning block, but the Lakers only reached overtime thanks to Austin Reaves. Reaves made a high-IQ play by intentionally missing his second free throw, securing the rebound, and sinking a floater to tie the game.

“If you have to rely on that (the play from Austin Reaves), you’re not going to win and not be a contender. I’m used to playing for coaches who wouldn’t be happy with that game, here you won the game. When you’re up 15 at home, Chuck and Kenny know this: that’s when you’ve got to put teams away.

“You’re up 15 at home. You’ve got to beat them by 15 at home. Don’t let them come back. Don’t let them win.”

The Lakers held a comfortable 61–50 halftime lead, but the Nuggets surged with a 16–5 run late in the third to tie the game at 87, drawing criticism from Shaquille O’Neal. Denver, fresh off a 20-point comeback win over San Antonio, carried that momentum, yet LA leaned on Austin Reaves and a bit of fortune to stay alive.

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.

With 1:09 seconds remaining, the Nuggets had no timeouts left. Jokic passed to Murray near the half-court line, who dribbled once before launching the shot, which hit the glass, sending the game to OT. Again, in overtime, it was close.

Doncic made sure there’d be no double overtime. He evaded a Nuggets double-team and sank the game-winner with less than a second to play.

Los Angeles won the regular-season series 2-1 after Saturday’s result. Should the two teams finish with the same record at the end of the year, the Lakers will have the tie-breaker.

With too many probabilities lining up for the Lakers, Shaq wanted them to be more dominant in their wins.

Shaquille O’Neal gets support from his co-host

Another issue for the win was that the Lakers were down 8 in the closing minutes before coming back to force OT. The Lakers went on an 11-3 run in the final three minutes, tying the game at 109, as the Nuggets missed 4 of 5 shots and turned the ball over twice.

That’s why even Charles Barkley, who has been for weeks stating that the Lakers are not contenders, sided with Shaquille O’Neal.

“I’m going to agree with Shaq because if you’re Denver, you’re like, ‘Guys, Jamal’s not going to go one for 15 again,'” stated Chuck. “You can’t get down eight and then get a miracle win.”

Barkley opined that the Nuggets won’t be too upset about this loss, since their star player, Jamal Murray, went cold, shooting 1-14. The Canadian guard also fouled out in OT, his presence on the court surely would have helped them.

While Shaquille O’Neal and Chuck want more dominating wins from the Lakers, any win at this stage becomes precious. They have now won five in a row and seven in a row at home. Plus, they are the third seed in the West vying for the all-important home court advantage in the playoffs.