The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Los Angeles Clippers for the 11th straight time Wednesday night, 125-117. The loss dropped the Lakers to the seventh seed and into the play-in tournament. But that might not be the biggest problem from the game. On the second night of a back-to-back, LeBron James and Anthony Davis logged 35 and 32 minutes respectively in a loss to the Clippers.

Both players and James especially looked incredibly sluggish in the first half. James only scored three points on 1-for-6 from the floor. It was only the 10th time of his illustrious career that he scored so few points in a first half. The Clippers would go on to build a 21-point lead, and it was 17 at the break.

But the Lakers bounced back with a strong effort in the third. James came out on fire and ultimately scored 30 points in the second half. But it didn't matter as the Clippers would match them score for score late.

The Clippers held a 20-point lead with just over four minutes. Yet, both James and Davis played all the way until there was 27 seconds remaining. They were not easy minutes either, as James was flying up and down the court chasing down Kawhi Leonard for a block, or going coast to coast on the offensive end for a nutty and-one.

They would cut the deficit to seven with a minute left, but the game was never in doubt. It was inexcusable that James and Davis played the final few minutes of this game. Fans online certainly felt the same way.

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A strong argument can be made that the Lakers should not have even played LeBron and Davis Wednesday. They played a grueling overtime game against the Utah Jazz and did not land in Los Angeles until close to 3am.

If ever there were two players that needed the rest, it was these two. Best case scenario for the Lakers was winning out and getting the fifth seed. Guess what that gets them, a first-round matchup with the Phoenix Suns. You know, that team that hasn't lost a game that Kevin Durant has played in yet.

But okay, both Davis and LeBron wanted to play. They wanted to go for it. That's fine. That's understandable. But playing them for the final four minutes of that game is not and could very well be the reason they are bounced in the play-in tournament.