'We can't waste any more time....

The Lakers hadn't been in this same situation since Oct. 20 of last year, when they were one win away from tying their record at.500. That was the second regular-season game. Since then, a lot has changed.

Russell Westbrook missed all 11 of his shots against the Clippers, Patrick Beverley made only one of seven attempts, and four of the five backups that played are no longer on the roster.

Nevertheless, even when the Lakers altered their roster and the vibe in the locker room was radically transformed, one thing remained constant. The Lakers are still under.500.

After winning three straight games, the Lakers blew a chance to tie for sixth place in the Western Conference on Sunday night, falling 112-108 to the New York Knicks.

The Lakers (33-35) are currently two games under.500 with 14 games remaining, with the loss lowering them into a four-way tie for ninth place in the West. "We have time, but we can't waste it," said Lakers coach Darvin Johnson. "We can't afford to squander any more games."

D'Angelo Russell, who closed off Toronto with a monster fourth quarter on Friday, continued hot on Sunday, sinking 13 of 19 shots for a season-high 33 points, but he was outdueled by his old colleague Julius Randle.

Randle scored 33 points on 11 of 24 shooting from the field and eight of 11 from the line, setting the tone for the Knicks (40-30), who were without Jalen Brunson.

And in the fourth quarter, R.J. Barrett's tenacity to the basket caused difficulties for the Lakers, with his layup with 2:34 remaining putting the Knicks up 10.

The Lakers rallied in the last 20 seconds to make it a one-possession game, but they couldn't get near a Knicks player to foul, allowing 14 seconds to pass. Josh Hart, another former Laker, hit both free throws to put the game out of reach. Anthony Davis only had 17 points, but he had 16 rebounds.

"I played horribly," Davis said. "I couldn't find any of my shots: free throws, layups, anything. The men performed an excellent job. Tonight, I didn't perform my job."

Postgame, Ham stated he believed the Lakers' three-game winning run was ended by a mix of missed jumpers, late defensive rebounding blunders, and the Knicks' aggressiveness.

LeBron James rejoined the Lakers' bench after missing the previous two games due to illness. On Sunday, he removed the protective walking boot from his wounded right foot.

"Everything is proceeding as planned," Ham said of James' recuperation. Last week, James shared a video from an undisclosed isolated area in which he joked about photographers following him while a wild animal passed by.

“I’ve lived through this with [Kobe Bryant] and Giannis [Antetokounmpo], these guys have a variety of ways, when you’re at that level, you have a variety of ways you can treat different injuries. And it’s also good for him to unplug a little bit. Not be detached necessarily, but just mentally get a little bit of a calming to everything that’s transpired over the year,” Ham said. “… It’s been a lot. So it’s not just about him getting healthy, it’s about him being in a good place mentally and spiritually so we get the best version of him when he returns.”

Until then, the Lakers are still very much in a fight even after briefly finding themselves in the top10 in the conference. Problems emerged Sunday — missed shots, uneven chemistry, inconsistent physicality. None of it changes the momentum the Lakers built at home during this stretch, multiple Lakers said.