LOS ANGELES -- After the Los Angeles Lakers missed the playoffs only five times in the first 65 years of the franchise's existence, Friday's 111-106 loss to the Brooklyn Nets officially eliminated them from postseason contention for the sixth straight year.
At 31-41, L.A. is now a game worse than it was a season ago with 10 games left to play. That team, of course, did not have LeBron James.
In a sequence that just about sums up the Lakers' season, L.A. had the ball with 22.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter on Friday and trailed by just three when James slipped out of bounds, losing the possession without the Lakers even getting a shot off to try to tie.