Here are the scores, updates, and results of the NBA 2020-2021 regular season match between the Los Angeles Lakers (LAL) vs Utah Jazz (UTA) on April 18, 2021 (All times are in Philippine Standard Time) at the Staples Center.
The defending champions hold off the league-leading Jazz in OT.
Dennis Schroder had a big impact in the second half, driving to the rim and scoring tough layups against the Jazz’s defense. He finished with 25 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. The European Laker also finger-rolled a lay-up to tie the game late in the game to send it to overtime after Clarkson hit a three-pointer to secure the win.
“He’s always in the moment,” Morris said on the performance that was brought to them by Schroder “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.”
Andre Drummond dominated the paint in this matchup against the Gobert-less Jazz. The big man chipped in 27 points on 10-15 shooting. Most of his points were from the paint as he used his low-post prowess. Additionally, he also grabbed 8 rebounds, almost finishing the game with a double-double.
“We clicked on all cylinders and we didn’t allow adversity to get us out of our game,” Drummond shared. “The chemistry is getting there.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played the most amongst his teammates. “KCP” played for 41 minutes and had 25 points while shooting 5-12 from outside the three-point line.
The team with the most wins in this season were playing without their star players, namely, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and Mike Conley. Due to a sprained ankle he had in a win over Indiana, Mitchell will not be able to play for at least a week.
Jordan Clarkson led his short-handed squad with 27 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and played for 46 minutes against his old team. The Filipino-American also hit a three-pointer to give his team the advantage against the opposing team late in the fourth quarter.
Ersan Ilyasova and Joe Ingles added 40 combined points and had hot hands from beyond the three-point line. Ersan Ilyasova, the veteran, was scorching hot in the first quarter, dropping 5 three-pointers on the Lakers and had 20 total points to end the game. Joe Ingles played as a facilitator and as a three-point scoring machine for his team. He splashed 6 of his 12 looks from the three-point zone and dimed 14 assists. Overall, the Australian Jazz scored 20 points.
The Lakers dominated the Jazz with 17 points in overtime against the Jazz’s 5.
The Lakers improve to 35-22 while the Utah Jazz drop to 42-15.
Jazz vs Lakers
35-34; 27-31; 20-29; 28-16; 5-17
The scores:
Lakers (127) – Drummond 27, Schroder 25, Caldwell-Pope 25, Kuzma 13, Harell
Jazz (115) – Clarkson 27, Ingles 20, Ilyasova 20, Bogdanovic 19, O’Neale 14