Dennis Schröder 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 in a game between short-handed teams.
Schröder got by Royce O’Neale for a layup with 3 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 Caldwell-Pope 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 season-high 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.
“We’re missing four pretty important guys,” Ingles said. “For most of the game, we did a pretty good job. We were one stop away from winning the game.”
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 Schröder. All four had been dealing with various ailments.
“He’s always in the moment,” Morris said of Schröder. “Tonight we needed him to score more. He made some great plays at the end of the game. We’re getting to the point where everybody knows each other’s game. We need that camaraderie.”
Clarkson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds left in regulation. He had 10 points in the fourth, when the Jazz opened with an 18-4 run to get within two. Schröder scored the Lakers’ final six points of regulation.
“We made more in-game adjustments than we have all year just to counter their attack,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “To have a team storm back and take the lead and (us) not panic is definitely something we can draw on going forward. We’ll have this experience to know that we’ll prevail.”
The Lakers took the game’s first double-digit lead on a jumper by Morris late in the third, capping a 7-0 run and stretching their lead to 84-74. The Jazz was held to 20 points, their lowest quarter of the game.
Los Angeles put on a dunking exhibition for the 1,710 fans in the stands. Drummond dribbled in from half-court and put down a one-handed jam to open the third, one of his three in the quarter. Alex Caruso and Montrezl Harrell had showy slams, too. Schröder tried to get in on the action, charging in but missing. He ended up sliding head-first out of bounds to end the period with the Lakers ahead 94-82.
TIP-INS
Jazz: Ilyasova made five of his career high-tying six 3-pointers in the first quarter, hitting three in a row to start the game. … Gobert missed his first game of the season because of a right knee contusion. … All-Star Conley also sat out for the first time with right knee soreness.
Lakers: Davis isn’t expected back for the rematch. … Neither team led by more than five points in the first half when there were 10 ties. … Their two-game home losing skid ended. … Caldwell-Pope passed Eddie Jones for fifth on the franchise’s career 3-point list with his 490th. … Kuzma overtook Rick Fox for seventh on the 3-point list.
FAMILIAR SIGHTS, SOUNDS
The victory triggered purple-and-gold streamers falling from the ceiling and “I Love LA” blaring on the sound system. The pared-down and socially distanced Laker Girls have been relegated to an upper level, with their live dancing intermixed with old video performances.
Still, Drummond is enjoying taking it all in as a Laker.
“It’s kind of a surreal moment for me,” he said. “It’s definitely a great feeling and something I want more of.”
UP NEXT
The Jazz remain in Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Monday night.
