Lakers survive in OT to beat the Jazz in a short-handed matchup.
The Lakers were able to weather the storm and survive in OT to beat a short-handed Jazz team 127–115. Coming into tonight’s matchup, both squads had their top players out due to injuries and rest. The Lakers were without LeBron James and Anthony Davis with the Jazz coming in without notable players Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley, and Rudy Gobert. With tonight’s win, the Lakers move to 35–22 as they still remain in 5th place in the western conference.
To start the game the Lakers had no answer trying to stop Ersan Ilyasova as he hit his first five three scoring 15 points in the first half. The Jazz’s leading scorer on the night was former Laker Jordan Clarkson. In 46 minutes, Clarkson finished with 27 points on 5 of 15 (33.3%) shooting from the three and 11 of 27 (40.7%) overall.
Tonight’s Lakers win came from the huge performances of starters Dennis Schröder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Andre Drummond. All three starters combined for 77 of the Lakers 127 points tonight. Leading the Lakers in scoring tonight, Andre Drummond finished with 27 points and 8 rebounds on 10 of 15 (66.7%) from the field in 30 minutes of action. Drummond’s 27 points are the most he’s scored as a member of the Lakers and his second-highest scoring performance of the season.
Tonight’s Lakers top performer goes to the German native starting point guard Dennis Schröder. Schröder was the major factor in getting the Lakers into overtime with his clutch lay-ups in the final minutes and final possession that helped the Lakers go into extra time and win. In 39 minutes, Schröder finished with 25 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Schröder shot 11 for 24 total from the field goal and finished with a plus/minus of 10.
The third-leading scorer in tonight’s win was the new emergence of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Caldwell-Pope led the Lakers in minutes played this afternoon as it showed in overtime cramping after going up for a lay-up and leaving the game for the night. In his 40 minutes of action, Caldwell-Pope finished with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals on 8 of 18 (44.4%) shooting from the field and 5 of 12 (41.6%) from the perimeter.
The Lakers were able to finish with 64 points in the paint highlighting why they shot a nice 51.6% from the field going 48 for 93. The Lakers starting unit scored one of their highest combined of the season scoring 100 points with the bench adding 29 points on the night.
The man who led the way tonight for the Lakers bench was the 2019 6th man of the year Montrezl Harrell. Harrell ended the night with 12 points and 7 rebounds on 5 of 7 shooting from the field in his 20 minutes of action. The Lakers second-leading scorer from the bench tonight was the 20-year-old sophomore Talen Horton-Tucker, who added 8 points and 5 rebounds on 3 of 5 shooting in his action off the bench.
The Lakers will face the Utah Jazz on Monday in the second game of a two-game series between the two. Look for the Jazz to add Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley back to the lineup after today’s loss to the Lakers as they look to get back to the win column.