There are no moral victories for a Lakers team that was expected to contend heading into the year, but their loss to the Clippers on Friday night was also hardly a disaster by recent standards. The Lakers may have ultimately fallen 119-115 to drop to 8-7 on the season, and certainly won’t be excited about this result, but a close game against a fellow playoff contender represents a step in the right direction for this team.
It’s a sad commentary about how bad the team has been that the bar is “hey, at least you tried,” but hey, seriously, at least they tried.