After being demolished by the Dallas Mavericks from the opening tip on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers, at long last, moved below the San Antonio Spurs into the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference — outside the Play-In tournament zone.

“We just got our butt whupped,” Stanley Johnson said after the Lakers gave up 82 points in the first half in Dallas — the most the franchise has given up in a half since they played in Minneapolis. “They kicked our ass.”

“It’s time to win games, man,” he added. “It’s been time to win games. But every loss hurts a lot more. We need to win.”

Both the Lakers (4-13 since Feb. 16) and Spurs (riding a four-game win streak) sit at 31-44. They split the season series (2-2), but the Spurs' division record (6-8) far exceeds that of the Lakers (3-11) — meaning San Antonio is guaranteed to own the tiebreaker.

So, now’s the time to seriously ask: Will the Lakers — who entered the season as betting favorites to win the West — actually miss the postseason altogether? Let’s break down where things stand following the Mavs loss, and why that potentially embarrassing, yet fitting outcome to a depressing season looks increasingly inevitable.

Check out Purple and Gold beat writer Michael Corvo on the Lakers Multiverse Podcast

1) The schedule

According to Tankathon, the Lakers' remaining schedule is the third-hardest in the NBA. Six of their last seven games will be against playoff teams, including the Utah Jazz (road, likely without LeBron James), Denver Nuggets (twice), Phoenix Suns (road), Golden State Warriors (road). They'll also face the New Orleans Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back post-traveling (the Pels are 2-0 vs. the Lakers), and the Oklahoma City Thunder (2-1 vs. L.A.) on the second leg of a B2B.

Almost every team on the docket is superior to the Lakers and has something to play for. Four of the seven games are outside DTLA — not ideal for a team with an 11-26 road record. Even when healthy, the Lakers have struggled to keep pace with over-.500 teams, especially top-tier contenders.

The Spurs face mostly quality West squads, though they'll enjoy two games vs. the Portland Trail Blazers at the AT&T Center. The Lakers are 4-10 vs. their remaining schedule, while the Spurs are 5-11 against theirs, per ESPN.

2) Injuries

It's unclear how healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be for the stretch run. LeBron is nursing the “horrible” sprained ankle he suffered in Sunday's loss to the Pelicans and isn't expected to be ready for the Jazz. Prior to his latest left leg injury, he acknowledged that his weary left knee won't be at full strength until the summer.

In last year's playoffs, LeBron was notably compromised by an ankle sprain, which he has acknowledged was far-from-healed for the Suns series.

Davis, meanwhile, has reportedly looked great in practice, in which he began fully participating on Monday. But, the Lakers need to be careful not to cause a re-aggravation. AD will need time — which the Lakers don't have — to ramp up his conditioning.

The Lakers are 6-14 without LeBron and 0-4 without LeBron and AD. The non-competitive showing in Dallas magnified the shortcomings of the roster around them.

Kendrick Nunn is not walking through that door, either.

3) They don’t want it

The Lakers are obviously comprised of immensely competitive professional athletes and coaches who, generally speaking, would prefer to win more often than lose and play well more than often not.

Yet, at some point over the past month-ish — perhaps after LeBron said they couldn't contend, or the inactive trade deadline, or AD went down (again), or a mix of it all plus the sheer passage of time — the Lakers have seemingly accepted the reality that they aren't going to win the 2021-22 NBA championship — their only goal.

The Lakers know they won't coalesce. They know Westbrook is ill-fitting. They know, should they miraculously make the Play-In and win two road games (their last two-game win streak was early January), they'll earn a matchup with a Suns squad that has beaten them six times in a row by an average of 18 points.

The Lakers say they still want it (except for Westbrook, who admitted to “not personally trying” to figure out how to stop Luka Doncic and said “nothing” needs to change now that they're out of a Play-In spot.) But their actions speak louder.

“The standings are the results,” Vogel said, when asked if falling out of the Play-In zone could light a fire. “We have to keep our focus on the process and the work and the things that are going to lead to the next win. That's the only place that our focus will be.”

Based on their repeatedly uninspired efforts — including a 23-point blown lead to the Pelicans and the wire-to-wire thumping in Dallas — the Lakers, like their fans, seem like they would rather this whole thing just be over.