Without LeBron James, the Lakers Play Timberwolves Tough, But Lose 118-111.

With a full squad, coming in healthy, the Lakers still could have lost to Minnesota Thursday night. The Wolves are the top team in the Western Conference, and have only lost one time at home.

The Lakers, though, aren't fully healthy. LeBron James and Gabe Vincent both missed Thursday's game with what likely amount to maintenance injuries as much as anything. Jarred Vanderbilt is still banged up, and Rui Hachimura still has to dress like Batman to get on the floor.

But with all of that, or perhaps because all of that, the Lakers played one of their better road games of the season. They looked relatively unencumbered, and played hard. Minnesota was just better.

But don't blame Anthony Davis, who went for 31/8/4. Taurean Prince didn't miss a shot until the fourth quarter. Austin Reaves had 20, Rui Hachimura 18, and a big fourth quarter might indicate that D'Angelo Russell could be breaking out of a horrific slump. The Lakers did a decent job on Anthony Edwards (9-19) and Karl-Anthony Towns (7-16), but struggled to keep the Wolves off the line.

Short James, against arguably the best defense in the NBA (and maybe the best team) the Lakers needed to play perfectly to win. They couldn't hit that bar, but while the Lakers don't have the luxury to embrace moral victories, if you're looking for signs of life in what is now a stretch of five losses in six games (with OKC coming up on Saturday, then Boston on Christmas) there were some to pull from Thursday's game.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers lose again, but showed signs of life.

SEGMENT 2: How can the Lakers break out of the slump?

SEGMENT 3: Did Russell shake the slump in the fourth quarter?

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