LOS ANGELES — Here's a question that might never have come to mind before now but was entirely appropriate after the Lakers' defensive malfeasance stretched their losing streak to four games and their latest slide to 11 defeats in their last 14 games:
Why can't the Lakers be more like the Clippers?
Not in every way, of course. The Lakers aren't giving up their championship banners or their glorious history, though those achievements seem longer and longer ago with each deplorable loss the Lakers absorb this season. And there have been many, including a 132-111 romp by the Clippers on Thursday that gave the Lakers' not-for-much-longer co-tenants at Crypto.com arena a sweep of the teams' four-game season series.