D'Angelo Russell, Lakers Mocked by Twitter for Loss to Rockets Without LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers entered their road game against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday without superstars LeBron James (foot) and Anthony Davis (rest on a back-to-back), but there was reason for optimism.

Simply put, the rebuilding Rockets entered Wednesday with a Western Conference-worst 16-52 record. They are looking toward winning in the future, not the present. That isn't the case with the Lakers, who retooled their roster prior to the trade deadline and remain in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.

However, the Lakers laid an egg in a 114-110 loss that wasn't as close as the score may indicate. L.A. never led after the first 30 seconds and trailed by double digits for much of the game. The Lakers were losing by as much as 18 points and fell behind by 14 at halftime.

L.A. scored 11 points in the final 1:08 to cut the deficit, but the Lakers never made this a one-possession game in the second half at any juncture.

Seven Rockets scored in double digits, led by Kevin Porter Jr. and his 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting alongside nine rebounds and six assists. Houston shot 52.8 percent as a team, out-rebounded L.A. 51-36 and scored 78 points in the paint. In other words, it's clear how much L.A. missed Davis.

Houston committed 18 turnovers to L.A.'s 10, but the Lakers shot just 37.8 percent from the field and made only 11-of-44 three-pointers. Austin Reaves tried to will the Lakers to a win with 24 points and seven dimes off the bench, but it wasn't meant to be.

The backcourt combo of Malik Beasley and D'Angelo Russell struggled in particular, with the two shooting a combined 11-of-34 (7-of-23 from three-point range).

The new-look Lakers have largely been playing well of late, even without James, who has been sidelined for all of March. But this was ultimately an ugly loss on a night where the Lakers had a chance to move to .500, and Twitter let it be known.

The Lakers will look to rebound on Friday at home against the Dallas Mavericks.