The hard-fought battle between two top teams Utah Jazz and LA Lakers came to an end with LA Lakers taking the win 127-115 in overtime.
Both the teams took the court without some of their main starters: the LA Lakers without Lebron James and Anthony Davis.
James has been out of the Los Angeles lineup with an ankle sprain since March. Davis hasn’t been in the court since he suffered a calf injury in February.
Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz announced early Saturday that Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, and Derrick Favors out.
Due to minor injuries they suffered and are all out to heal the minor injuries.
Another bad news for Jazz came when Donovan Mitchell ruled out for at least a week.
Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley Jr., and Derrick Favors will sit out Jazz’s game vs. Lakers today on ESPN, sources tell ESPN. Donovan Mitchell is out with an ankle injury. Jazz are on a back-to-back after beating Pacers Friday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 17, 2021
As he suffered a severe ankle suffered on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.
NBA this season is unpredictable with many star players missing the matches due to injury and teams playing incredibly well.
The same was expected in the match between the Lakers and Utah Jazz.
Everyone knew that the game won’t be easy for either of the teams without their players and the same happened.
“It puts some other guys in a position to be more aggressive and has a greater usage,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said before the game.
“We’ve had that periodically this year. We haven’t had it like we have tonight obviously with multiple guys out, so that’s going to be a challenge for us.”
The game tied in the regular time and only finished in overtime with the Lakers taking the win.
The Lakers made great plays for the win.
The Lakers needed players to put up great plays to win against the top-seeded Utah Jazz as they were without James and Anthony.
They received that from Andre Drummond, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Dennis Schroder
Some big performances from these players gave the win they needed.
From the start, both teams played well without letting the other take the lead.
First-quarter finished with Jazz taking the lead by only a point but as they entered the second quarter the Lakers made comeback.
They took the win over the Jazz by three points at the end of the quarter.
LA Lakers delivered another stunning performance in the third quarter and extended their lead three-points lead to 12 points.
The Lakers took the game’s first double-digit lead on a jumper by Morris late in the third, and made a 7-0 run and stretching their lead to 84-74.
Los Angeles put on a dunking performance to take the lead in the third quarter.
Drummond dribbled in from half-court and put down a one-handed jam to open the third, one of his three in the quarter.
Lakers hold off the Jazz in OT 🔥
Drummond: 27 PTS, 8 REB, 10-15 FG
Schroder: 25 PTS, 8 AST, 6 REB
KCP: 25 PTS, 5 REB pic.twitter.com/X2cEw75nkU— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 17, 2021
Likewise, Alex Caruso and Montrezl Harrell showed some stunning slams. Schröder also made some great plays for the Lakers.
Dennis Schroder tied the game in the fourth quarter after the Jazz made a comeback with an 18-4 run opening the fourth.
He then led in the overtime for the Laker’s win over the Utah Jazz. And eventually finished the game with 25 points, 8 assists.
Meanwhile, Andre Drummond added 27 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 25 points for the Lakers.
“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.”
Utah Jazz stunning performance in the fourth court.
Utah started with stunning plays to start the game in the first quarter.
Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingles, and Ersan Ilyasova were in the Jazz starting lineup alongside Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O’Neale.
The Jazz showed what a deep team they can be with a throwback performance for Ersan Ilyasova.
And a nice contribution from Juwan Morgan, who contributed 6 points and 5 rebounds as he played for the first time.
Utah made some great plays to make the game more interesting in the fourth quarter.
They went on and made a 15-4 run to start the fourth quarter.
And hold the Lakers scoreless for nearly seven straight minutes in the quarter to take their first lead of the second half.
Clarkson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds left in regulation. He had 10 points in the fourth quarter.
But it was not enough without a defensive player of the year front runner, Rudy Gobert.
As Schroder tied the game at the end of the fourth quarter and erupted in the overtime to give the Lakers the win over the Jazz.
Jordan Clarkson led Utah with 27 points against his former team. Similarly, 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.”
Utah Jazz vs LA Lakers face-off again.
The victory over Jazz moves the Lakers to 35-22 on the season as they stay in fifth place in the Western Conference.
They will be facing the Jazz again on Monday with Anthony Davis probable for the Lakers while Donovan Mitchell missing for the Jazz.
