The Lakers fell to the Mavericks on Tuesday night, 128–110. The loss dropped L.A.’s record to a rough 31–44, and if the season ended right now, the team would not even have the opportunity to participate in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
The team has the same record as the No. 10 Spurs but falls behind on tiebreakers after its third straight loss and ninth loss in its last 12 games.
L.A. was without LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the game. Malik Monk paced the team with 28 points, while Luka Dončić put up a 34-point, 12-assist, 12-rebound triple double.
The Lakers’ NBA title win back in the bubble in 2020 feels like a distant memory. After an injury-plagued 2021 season, L.A. earned the No. 7 seed, beating the Warriors in the play-in round, but falling to the eventual Western Conference champion Suns in six games. That felt like a pretty precipitous drop from the year prior, but nothing could have compared Lakers fans for this season, especially with James playing as well as he has (30.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists per game).
The Lakers have seven games remaining in the regular season, but racking up wins will not be easy. Six of the games come against teams ahead of them in the standings: the Jazz (No. 5), Pelicans (No. 9), Suns (No. 1), Warriors (No. 3) and two games against the Nuggets (No. 6). Only the April 8 game against the Thunder comes against a team not currently in the 10-team playoff field.
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