By Adrian Stewart Co

Los Angeles Lakers took advantage of a shorthanded Utah Jazz for a 127-115 overtime victory in the 2020-2021 NBA Season on Saturday (Sunday in the Philippines) at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The Lakers surged to a 120-113 lead after a triple from Kyle Kuzma, four straight points from Dennis Schroder and a three-point play by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The Jazz rallied to within five after a basket by Juwan Morgan but the Lakers sealed the victory with conversions from Caldwell-Pope and Andre Drummond.

Drummond finished the match with 27 points, while Schroder and Caldwell-Pope chipped in 25 markers apiece as the defending champions improved its record to 35-22.

Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell added 13 and 12 markers, respectively, while Markieff Morris had double-double 12 rebounds and 10 points for the Lakers.

The Lakers were comfortably ahead by 12 in the fourth quarter but the Jazz mounted a huge rally to snatch a 100-98 advantage on a three-pointer by Bojan Bogdanovic.

Both teams traded baskets since then with the Jazz tasting the lead for the last time at 110-108 on a three-pointer by Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson but the Lakers send the game to overtime on a basket by Schroder.

Clarkson finished the game with 27 points, Joe Ingles and Ersan Ilyasova chipped in 20 markers apiece, while Bogdanovic ended with 19 as the Jazz dropped to 42-15 slate.

Utah played shorthanded with the injury of Donovan Mitchell, while Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley and Derrick Favors rested. The Lakers were also without hurting LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

BOX SCORE:

LOS ANGELES 127 – Drummond 27, Schroder 25, Caldwell-Pope 25, Kuzma 13, Harrell 12, Morris 10, Horton-Tucker 8, Caruso 4, McLemore 3, Matthews 0.

UTAH 115 – Clarkson 27, Ilyasova 20, Ingles 20, Bogdanovic 19, O’Neale 14, Niang 9, Morgan 6, Brantley 0, Oni 0, Thomas 0, Forrest 0.

Quarterscores: 34-35, 65-62, 94-82, 110-110, 127-115./ASC, WDJ