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The LA Lakers are on a three-game losing streak once again this season. The Purple and Gold lost their third consecutive game in a row when they went down 110-128 to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. It was a blowout win for the Mavericks, who led by as many as 37 points in the game and did not let their opponents lead even once in the contest. The Mavericks also scored 82 first-half points, which is the second-most points the Lakers have allowed in a first half in franchise history.
With LeBron James sitting out the game because of an ankle issue and the Lakers still missing Anthony Davis, the Mavericks put on an all-round dominant show. They made a season-high 20 three-point shots against the Lakers while shooting 52.0% from the field. The hosts also outscored the LA Lakers 12-2 in fastbreak points, even as the purple-and-gold franchise shot 45.0% from the floor and 27.3% from deep.
Commenting on his team's annihilation by the Mavericks, Stanley Johnson was completely frank in his assessment of the game. The Lakers forward, who started his 23rd game of the season and had 16 points versus the Mavericks, said:
"We got our b**t whooped. Straight up. ... They kicked our a**."
LA Lakers drop to 11th position, out of contention for play-in tournament
The loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday meant that the LA Lakers have now dropped to 11th position in the Western Conference standings. They have an identical 31-44 regular season record like the San Antonio Spurs, but the Spurs move into 10th position because they hold the tie-breaker against the Lakers.
The Lakers now have seven games left in their 2021-22 campaign. They have the second-hardest remaining schedule, with four of the seven contests being played on the road and six of the remaining games against teams with a better record than them. To add to their woes, there is no confirmed news yet on when LeBron James and Anthony Davis are likely to return from their injury issues, though there is an expectation that both players will likely be back by the end of the week for the team.
If the Lakers fail to make the play-in tournament, it will be the second time in four seasons that the Lakers have failed to make it to the playoffs since signing LeBron in the 2018 offseason. The team did not make it to the postseason in LeBron's first year with the franchise.
