Lakers News: Players Felt Like They Were Really Missing LeBron James in An Embarrassing Loss

LeBron was out, but that shouldn't be an excuse.

The Lakers put on an embarrassing showing in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night. After taking a commanding lead early on, the defense fell apart and the offense failed to get it going when it mattered the most. 

Even with Oklahoma City doing everything they could to give the Lakers opportunities late, they came up short. A couple of turnovers in the final seconds of the game by the Thunder resulted in a pair of airballs by Los Angeles. 

So instead of dominating, Los Angeles ended up blowing one of the largest leads in the team's history. After the game, no one really had an answer for what went wrong. Frank Vogel cited the team taking their foot off of the gas as part of it, but there was certainly more than that. 

Kent Bazemore shot a couple of threes and kept them rolling early on. But after the game, he pointed to LeBron James being out as a major factor in the loss. 

We were without our head honcho tonight, the guy who would have kept us even-keeled out there with Bron. there's a lot to learn.

LeBron will always be missed from any game that he has to sit out. But the Lakers still had most of their key players and their stars. Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis combined for 50 points and the rest of the starting lineup tallied 26 of their own. 

The Lakers bench came through with 39 points. But they are going to have to learn how to win games without one of the big three in the lineup on a daily basis. And they cannot afford to lose to teams like the Thunder. 

Up next, the Lakers travel back home to play the Cavaliers on Friday night at Staples.