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As the Utah Jazz blew past the Lakers 122-109 on Thursday night, LeBron James and company lost their grip – for the moment – on the last play-in spot.
The Lakers (31-45) fell to 11th in the Western Conference as the idle San Antonio Spurs (31-45) moved ahead because they hold the tiebreaker.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 points, and Dwight Howard added 21 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. James sat out on Thursday with an ankle sprain.
Anthony Davis is expected to return on Friday against the Pelicans.
The Pelicans, Spurs and Lakers all have six games left, so the battle for the final two play-in spots might just go down to the wire.
Los Angeles hosts the ninth-place New Orleans Pelicans (33-43) on Friday night, while the Spurs host Portland (27-49) for the first of two consecutive games. The Pels and the Spurs both hold tiebreakers over the Lakers.
The Lakers' season has been marked by unending disappointments, shocking losses and injuries. James happens to be the only Laker performing at a formidable level. Davis has been a spectator for the majority of the season. Meanwhile, Westbrook is undeniably having his worst NBA season.
If the Lakers can wrangle a spot in the Nine-Ten Game and win two play-in games, they will earn the No. 8 seed. By doing all that, they'll draw the top-seeded Phoenix Suns (62-14), who have blown out Los Angeles in all three meetings this season.
To that end, Jordan Cornette, on ESPN's "First Take," said:
"I want it to end. I want it to end this year, because it's gotten comical. I mean, I'm tired of seeing Russ (Westbrook) out here, playing how he's looking. This guy's a legend. I don't see him go out like this. I don't want to see these press-conferences that we're seeing."
Cornette also put forward his take on how the Lakers should proceed:
"LeBron is having a miserable time. He wants to get through the end of this season, and the Lakers should – they should – want to put this to bed. Best case scenario: They don't make the play-in. ... You let LeBron sit out, save his miles for a legit championship run."
The future for the LA Lakers and LeBron James
Amid the embarrassing losses, it has felt as if LeBron James broke a record in every other game. As the Lakers continue to hit new lows, there seems to be little hope for this team going into the postseason, let alone having a deep playoff run.
The future does not look particularly promising. The consensus to trade Russell Westbrook is a difficult task. There are no compelling arguments for getting any fruitful compensation for the worn-out veteran with a massive contract.
A full-fledged rebuild with James and Anthony Davis will probably be in the future as James continues to chase Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record.
Guess the Bulls players in this quiz and it's not going to be easy!
