The Jazz, who lead the Western Conference, were without injured starters Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley Jr and Rudy Gobert.
The Lakers, defending NBA champions, were missing their two biggest stars in Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
“We didn’t allow adversity to get us out of our game,” said Drummond, who was returning after a toe injury.
The Lakers’ Dennis Schroder added 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finishing on 25 points.
Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz, who have the league’s best record (42 wins, 15 defeats) with 27 points. Ersan Ilyasova finished with 20 points, shooting six of eight from the three-point line.
“We’re missing four pretty important guys,” said Jazz guard Joe Ingles.
“For most of the game, we did a pretty good job. We were one stop away from winning the game.”
The game was played in front of 1,700 spectators, the second at the Staples Centre since California relaxed its rules on spectators attending sporting events.
Elsewhere, Jayson Tatum scored 44 points for the Boston Celtics to beat the Golden State Warriors 119-114 despite Stephen Curry’s impressive 47-point haul for the Warriors.
The win ends Golden State’s four-game winning streak, while the Celtics made it six wins in a row.
