Lakers star Andre Drummond revels in surreal moment after Staples Center win
The LA Lakers held off the Utah Jazz for a 127-115 overtime triumph at the Staples Center and Andre Drummond revelled in the winning feeling.
Andre Drummond is itching to experience more of the thrills of a home-court win with the Los Angeles Lakers after helping see out an overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. Acquired at the end of March, Drummond found out for the first time how it felt to earn a win at the Staples Center as a Lakers player, as around 1,700 fans saw Los Angeles earn a 127-115 overtime triumph over the NBA Western Conference leaders.
Jazz fightback
The Lakers had previously seen a 14-point advantage evaporate, with the Jazz taking the lead towards the end of the fourth quarter, before Dennis Schroder tied things up with three seconds to play. Still without the injured LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Drummond finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and three assists to aid the team's cause, while the impressive Schroder had 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Since joining the Lakers, Drummond is averaging 9.2 points, 1.2 assists and 9.2 rebounds and he feels the depleted Lakers – fifth in the Western Conference – are beginning to gel.
"With the fans being in the arena it was kind of a surreal moment for me because I've been on the other side," he said. "Seeing them win, seeing the streamers come down, to be on this end it was definitely a great feeling and something I want more of. I think tonight was a good game for all of us, for me personally I think it was a pretty solid game. As a unit we clicked on all cylinders. We didn't allow adversity to get us out of our game, they did have a hell of a run down the stretch to tie up the game and take the lead. The chemistry is getting there, we're having fun day by day doing it."
Head coach Frank Vogel was impressed by the way his Lakers side kept their cool after seeing their lead wiped out. "We made more in-game adjustments than we have all year just to counter their attack," he 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."