LOS ANGELES – The sustained consistency, depth and Hall-of-Fame caliber coaching once provided the Lakers a gauge on their playoff readiness.
With the Lakers far removed from that picture in recent seasons, the San Antonio Spurs have since offered clarity on the gap between both franchises. As demonstrated in their 119-98 to the Spurs on Sunday at Staples Center, the Lakers are nowhere close even with some Magic.
The Lakers (19-41) lost their fourth consecutive game for reasons familiar and new.
They could not a defend an emerging star in Kawhi Leonard (25 points), a key player that rejected them in free agency in LaMarcus Aldridge (16) and a former Lakers fan favorite in Pau Gaosl (15 points).