Surreal drama: Dončić narrowly avoids disaster against Wembanyama in a chaotic final second
Reality nearly outshone fiction at the foot of Hollywood in a finale that flirted with disaster for Luka Dončić’s Lakers, as Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs visited Los Angeles.
The game seemed sealed for the purple and gold, leading 118–116 with just 1.2 seconds left, and the ball in their hands for an inbound play from under their own basket — until the former Staples Center witnessed a series of surreal, Sunday-league-style blunders from Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia.
Smart, 31 years old and a decade into his NBA career, simply needed to throw the ball downcourt to end the contest.
Instead, he failed to set both feet behind the baseline before the inbound pass — a fundamental error that resulted in a turnover and handed the Spurs a golden chance to tie.
Out of the timeout, with just 1.2 seconds on the clock, Keldon Johnson drew a foul from LaRavia and went to the free-throw line with the opportunity to level the game with a tenth of a second remaining.
Johnson missed the first and was forced to intentionally miss the second to chase his own rebound, but that’s where the string of catastrophes for the LeBron-less Lakers finally stopped.
The frantic sequence of self-inflicted chaos overshadowed Dončić’s impressive return performance: 35 points, 9 rebounds, and 13 assists, albeit on a shaky 9-for-27 from the field and 4-for-11 from deep.
Still, he matched his career high with 5 steals — a testament to his resilience, especially as he finished the game with five fouls.
Wembanyama, meanwhile, fouled out with 1:40 remaining, visibly frustrated as he faded late under the Lakers’ physical defense.
The French phenom finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists on 5-for-14 shooting (0-for-2 from three), managing just five points in the fourth quarter and failing to reach double digits in rebounds or add more than one block.
JJ Redick’s Lakers entered the final period down 88–96 but held the Spurs to just six points over the last three minutes.
On a night that pitted them against the league’s supposed next generational talent, Deandre Ayton further cemented his role as L.A.’s interior anchor, posting a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double on 9-for-13 shooting. Smart added 17 points, while Rui Hachimura chipped in 15.
For the Spurs, rookies Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan backed Wembanyama with 16 points apiece.
The Lakers now sit second in the Western Conference at 7–2, just behind the 8–1 Oklahoma City Thunder, who suffered their first loss against the Blazers coached by former Baskonia legend Tiago Splitter.
The Spurs, meanwhile, drop to fifth at 5–2, ruing their missed opportunity after the Lakers’ late-game meltdown courtesy of Smart and LaRavia.
After everything that happened with Nico Harrison in Dallas, Luka Dončić is in no mood to deal with enemies within his own locker room again.
