Lakers hold off NBA-leading Jazz in OT
Dennis Schroder hit the tying basket to force overtime and finished with 25 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Utah Jazz, 127-115, on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) in a game between short-handed teams.
Schroder got by Royce O’Neale for a layup with three seconds remaining to tie it at 110 and force overtime after the Lakers got outscored 28-16 in the fourth.
Andre Drummond added 27 points and Kentavious CaldwellPope had 25 points for the Lakers, who blew a 14-point lead early in the fourth before outscoring Utah 17-5 in the extra session.
“We clicked on all cylinders and we didn’t allow adversity to get us out of our game,” Drummond said. “The chemistry is getting there.”
The NBA-leading Jazz were without injured starters Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert. Mitchell will be out at least a week with a sprained right ankle he sustained in a win over Indiana on Friday night. An MRI showed there was no structural damage.
Jordan Clarkson led Utah with 27 points against his former team. Ersan Ilyasova added a seasonhigh 20 points before fouling out in overtime and Joe Ingles had 20 points and a career-high-tying 14 assists. Bojan Bogdanovic had 19 points as Utah’s two-game winning streak ended.
Injured Lakers superstars Anthony Davis and LeBron James watched in street clothes. But the Lakers had new addition Drummond and Markieff Morris back in the lineup, along with Kyle Kuzma and Schroder. All four had been dealing with various ailments.