PHOENIX — A season that started with championship promise for the Los Angeles Lakers ended with the pain of failing to even qualify for the play-in tournament.
Tuesday’s 121-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns — coupled with a 116-97 win by the San Antonio Spurs over the Denver Nuggets — officially eliminated L.A. from play-in contention with three games remaining in the regular season.
Phoenix blew the game open with a 35-22 third quarter and the Lakers limped to the finish line from there. The Suns’ Devin Booker (32 points on 12-for-22 shooting) and Jae Crowder let their opponent’s bench hear it, relishing the chance to bury the Lakers after Anthony Davis suggested last month that Phoenix’s 2021 playoff win over L.A. was a fluke.
Ultimately, it was just another rough night for the Lakers in a season that their fans would just as soon forget.
Injuries sabotaged the season, with L.A.’s new-look Big Three of LeBron James, Davis and Russell Westbrook combining to play just 21 games through Tuesday. The Lakers went 11-10 in those games — hardly dominant, but certainly not cellar-dwellers, either.
Injuries played a factor again on Tuesday, with James sitting out for the fourth time in the past five games with soreness in his left ankle. It was his 23rd missed game of the season. Joining James on the visitor’s bench at Footprint Center in street clothes was Kendrick Nunn, missing his 79th game of the season because of a bone bruise in his right knee yet, curiously, still not simply ruled out for the season by the Lakers.
Even Davis, who was on the court playing in his third game back after a six-week absence because of a right mid-foot sprain, was also dealing with plantar fascia in his right foot that’s afflicted him since his return, according to Lakers coach Frank Vogel.
The rash of poor health — including COVID-19 running through the locker room in December — led to a ridiculous total 24 different players to suit up for L.A. at some point this season. And it left Vogel no choice but to constantly tinker with the pieces available to him as he tried out 39 different starting lineups through Tuesday — second most in the league behind the Brooklyn Nets.
A team picked to win 52.5 games in the preseason by BetMGM Sportsbook and a top favorite — along with Brooklyn — to win it all, was eliminated from play-in tournament contention by losing their seventh straight game to bring their record to 31-48.
It’s the Lakers’ longest losing streak of the season, a fitting way to go out, while San Antonio won for the seventh time in its past eight games to guarantee it will be at least the No. 10 seed in the play-in. The New Orleans Pelicans, who needed either a win Tuesday night or loss by the Lakers, beat the Sacramento Kings 123-109 to clinch a playoff spot.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, hasn’t won consecutive games since early January, when it beat Sacramento and Atlanta at home.
By the time the Lakers and Suns tipped off Tuesday night, the Spurs held a seven-point lead over Denver late in the third quarter, putting one half of L.A.’s elimination scenario into place. The Lakers clung to a 42-39 lead over the Suns midway through the second quarter when San Antonio put the finishing touches on its win.
The loss unofficially starts an offseason that is full of questions marks for the Lakers. Will Vogel keep his job? Is there a shakeup in store for the front office? Can the Lakers find a trade partner for Westbrook and cut their losses? Will James, entering the final year of his deal, sign a contract extension to keep him in L.A. beyond his 20th season in the league?
James, ever cognizant of messaging, showed his alignment with the franchise through his attire on Tuesday. He wore a white T-shirt with “Lake Show” printed on the front in purple and gold lettering, featuring caricatures of Laker legends Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Nobody from the 2021-22 Lakers made the cut.