Lakers silence Jazz in OT as Schroder, Drummond take charge

The Los Angeles Lakers got back in the win column with a gutsy 127-115 overtime victory over the league-leading Utah Jazz on Saturday, April 17 (Sunday, April 18, Manila time).

With the win, the Lakers improved to 4-1 in overtime games this season. The Jazz, who hold the league-best record (42-15), dropped to 0-3 in overtime games this year.

Andre Drummond, who returned to the starting lineup after sitting out with a lingering right big toe contusion, topped the Lakers with 27 points and 8 rebounds. 

The Lakers outscored the Jazz, 17-5, in extra time.

Dennis Schroder – whose bucket forced overtime – posted 25 points, 8 assists, and 6 boards for the fifth-running Lakers, who upped their mark to 35-22.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 25 points, hitting 5-of-12 from behind the arc. With his fourth three-pointer, Caldwell-Pope passed Eddie Jones for fifth all-time in team history in three-pointers and finished the game with 490.

Caldwell-Pope later suffered a cramp in his right calf and limped to the locker room.

Playing against his old team, Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz with 27 points. Ersan Ilyasova finished with 20 points, shooting 6-of-8 from the three-point line. He fouled out in overtime.

Joe Ingles totaled 20 points and 14 assists. Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points.

The Jazz finished 23-of-59 (39%) from the three-point line, the 15th time Utah has made 20-plus threes this season.

The game was a back-and-forth affair with 25 lead changes and 11 ties. Neither team led by more than five in the first half. However, the Lakers took a 65-62 lead into halftime and extended it to 12 points by the end of the third quarter.

The Lakers pushed that lead to 13 points early in the fourth, but the Jazz used a 15-0 run to retake the lead, 100-98, with just over four minutes left.

Schroder led the way for the Lakers down the stretch in regulation, with a key block and back-to-back baskets that gave the Lakers a three-point lead late.

But after a Royce O’Neal layup for Utah, Clarkson hit a three-pointer from the wing to give the Jazz a two-point lead with 8.7 seconds left. 

Schroder responded by driving the lane for an easy basket to force overtime.

Both teams played short-handed. The Lakers played without LeBron James (right, high-ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (right calf strain).

The Jazz will be without guard Donovan Mitchell for several games, after he suffered a right ankle sprain in the third quarter of his team’s win over the Indiana Pacers at home on Friday.

Utah head coach Quin Snyder also sat Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley Jr, and Derrick Favors with his team playing in the second of a two-game series against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

The two teams will do it again on Monday at Staples Center. – Rappler.com