NBA: LeBron James pays tribute to ‘generational’ Luka Doncic after Lakers’ overtime win over Nuggets

LeBron James praised the “generational” talent of his teammate Luka Doncic after the Slovenian scored the winning goal in overtime to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 127-125 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Doncic (27 years old) finished his career scoring 30 points, passing 13 assists, and grabbing 11 rebounds, achieving his eighth hat-trick this season, as the Lakers achieved their fifth victory in a row.

The six-time NBA star hit a jump shot with 0.5 seconds left to give his team the win.

“It’s just a great shot from a player of our generation,” James said of his teammate.

“He’s just a big player, man. It’ll just be the first of many game-winners like this for him wearing a Lakers uniform.”

Austin Reeves scored 32 points, Marcus Smart added 21 points and five steals, while James (41 years old) contributed 17 points in 40 minutes as the Lakers advanced to third place in the Western Conference.

James dropped full length to the floor to prevent Denver from getting an offensive rebound with 54.3 seconds left — a play that Lakers coach JJ Redick said was unprecedented in James’ 23-year professional career.

“I think we all heard it from our coaches when we were kids: The first guy down the floor usually gets the ball,” James said.

“So, that’s just a little league coach going through my mind at that moment, and I realize the importance of that.”

Lakers coach Riddick expressed his happiness with his team’s collective performance.

“We still have a long way to go, but we are certainly optimistic about how we will approach this period of matches,” Redick said.