Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel lamented their lack of energy in their one-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. So he issued a subtle guarantee in his pregame media session on Thursday.

“Our group was mad enough about last night’s loss where we’ll bring the energy to get a W tonight,” said Vogel.

But instead, with Anthony Davis (left knee contusion) sitting out and on the second leg of a back-to-back amid a season-long road trip, the Lakers got shellacked by the Detroit Pistons, 107-92, in one of their most lopsided losses—and one of their flattest performances—of the season.

The Lakers led 58-56 at halftime but scored just 34 more points on the night and looked a step more lethargic than usual on both ends. The Pistons (5-14) outscored the Lakers, 25-14 in the fourth quarter and the game quickly turned into garbage time as the defending champions waved the proverbial white flag with about three minutes remaining (though one could argue all four quarters represented varying degrees of garbage time).

“We just didn’t have a great rhythm in that second half in any way,” said Vogel said afterward.

He acknowledged they were searching for effective combinations sans Davis, but “just couldn’t find it.”

Thursday's game was a story of two halves for LeBron James. The four-time MVP hit his first seven shots, only to miss 11 of his final 12 attempts. In the end, he finished with 22 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds (he did hit 4-of-8 from deep, continuing his career-best efficiency from beyond the arc).

“Our legs got to us on the second night of a back-to-back,” said James in his post-game Zoom session. “I think early on I got it going, and then at the end of the day I still gotta get my teammates involved. I definitely missed some shots I'm normally accustomed to making but it had nothing to do with my legs.”

The 18-year veteran doubled down on his self-assessment and fed the conspiracy theory that he is, in fact, not human.

“I don't get tired,” said James. “I get my sleep, I get my rest. I have a lot of energy. I don't get tired. I don't even think about that. When we have our games, I'm ready to go. I don't get tired.”

On the plus side, James matched Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal with another statistical feat, dropping 20 or more points in the first half for the third straight game.

Regardless, the Lakers lacked a key scoring punch without their All-Star big man, especially once James went cold. Kyle Kuzma, getting the start in place of Davis, scored a season-high 22 points, though 19 came in the first three quarters.

The Purple and Gold shot decently from deep (12-of-28) but most of the damage came early as they hit just 40.9 percent of their field goals overall. In the end, the 93-point total marked the Lakers' lowest-scoring outing this season.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Lakers haven’t won in Motown since December 2, 2014 when Byron Scott was still the coach (A caveat: Last season's game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and James rested in the Lakers' lone visit against the Pistons in 2018-19).

Thursday also marked the first time the Lakers have lost two games in a row this season, a common topic of conversation around the team.

“We don’t wanna lose two in a row,” said Kentavious Caldwell-Pope after their impressive win over the Milwaukee Bucks last Thursday, which began their seven-game road swing. “We take pride in that.”

Kuzma echoed the sentiment after their loss to the Pistons.

“Our mantra is we don't want to lose two games in a row. At the end of the day, things happen. It's the NBA, things happen. Losing is a part of basketball. We're going to have troubles along the way, and that's just the beauty of the journey,” said Kuzma.

He noted that the Lakers lost four in a row on a long road trip last season then went on to right the ship and win the title.

“The regular season is just rehearsal for the playoffs,” added Kuzma added, crediting the notion to assistant coach Jason Kidd.

Vogel didn’t use the absence of Davis as an excuse. Rather, he simply chalked the loss up to an off-night, shouldering responsibility for the lack of offensive rhythm.

“We had plenty of firepower to win this basketball game tonight. I gotta do a better job of putting guys in the right spots to be successful,” said Vogel. “That’s the NBA, that happens. One night is different than the next. We have a team that can make up for a couple of guys being out. Some nights you’re just off, and that was us tonight. We'll be fine.”

The performance may cause folks to wonder whether Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka should look to add a third scorer before the March 5th trade deadline (e.g. Bradley Beal or Zach LaVine), though it’s probably fair to blame the Pistons dud on some winter road blues and the absence of Davis.

Entering Thursday, the Lakers ranked seventh in the NBA in offensive rating and eighth in points per game.

After winning a franchise-record 10 games on the road to open the season, the defending champions have now lost two straight. At 14-6, they trail the blazing Utah Jazz (14-4) and the Los Angeles Clippers (14-5) in the Western Conference.

The Pistons were led by Blake Griffin, who hit 5-of-10 from deep on his way to a season-high 23 points on top of six assists. Wayne Ellington, who shot 6-of-9 from deep, caught fire as well, while Mason Plumlee added 17 points and 10 boards while effectively getting under Montrezl Harrell’s skin throughout the game.

Next, the Lakers will head back East to face the Boston Celtics on Saturday. They’ll wrap up their road trip against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.