/ STAFF WRITER
LOS ANGELES – The debilitating losses in recent days did not just expose the Lakers’ inferiority against the NBA’s elite. It also sapped the joy out of a season centered more on if the Lakers’ progress than the end result.
So at least the Lakers showed more of that energy, even if it coincided with a 102-97 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at Staples Center. Though the Lakers (15-30) lost their fourth consecutive game, they also showed relative growth that remained absent during double-digit blowouts this week to the Spurs and the Clippers.