LeBron James: Lakers' Schedule 'Definitely Got the Best of Us' in Loss to Clippers

In one of their most important games of the season, the Lakers came up short against the rival Clippers at Crypto.com arena. It was a brutal end to one of their toughest back-to-back matchups of the year.

The team decided to play all its stars, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis—who hadn't played in back-to-back games since November—following an overtime win against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.

The result ended up being one of the poorer performances that the team has had in recent weeks, and fatigue certainly seemed to play a big role.

"It's one of the toughest games we've had this year," James said. "Coming off the road trip and getting back late last night, after an overtime game ... this was one of those scheduling conflicts in the season and definitely got the best of us tonight."

Davis and James were both listed as questionable with foot injuries heading into the game but were made available to suit up 45 minutes before tipoff. They ended up playing 32 and 35 minutes, respectively.

Los Angeles was fresh off a lengthy four-game, eight-day road trip—in which they actually had to spend an extra night in Minnesota because of a snowstorm—that concluded with the win over the Jazz.

It didn't have enough in the tank to beat a Clippers team that's been a bit up-and-down over the last few weeks, going 3-3 in their last six games.

"The circumstances weren't used as a crutch," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. "They were just real. The real NBA schedule. Everybody goes through it at some point in their schedule in each and every year."

Although it's a bit of a blow, Wednesday's loss doesn't completely end the Lakers' chances of grabbing one of the top six seeds in the Western Conference. They sit just one game back of the Clippers and Golden State Warriors, who sit in the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, respectively.

In order to avoid the play-in tournament, the Lakers need to go 2-0 in their upcoming games against the Suns and Jazz. They would also need the Warriors to go 1-1 against the Kings and Trail Blazers.