The shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers fell short of beating the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, which means they head into the All-Star break on a two-game losing streak. Following the narrow defeat to the Kings,

Frank Vogel revealed that members of the Lakers were “hurt” after losing a close contest:

It should be noted that the Lakers were without LeBron James for the first time this season on Wednesday and Anthony Davis remains out with his injury. Marc Gasol was also out again due to being in the NBA's health and safety protocols. Even without these players on the floor, Los Angeles had plenty of opportunities to secure a victory against Sacramento.

With under a minute remaining in the game, Dennis Schroder made two clutch free throws to give the Lakers a 120-119 lead. But on the next possession, Harrison Barnes gave the Kings a 121-120 lead after making a layup.

Los Angeles then had a possession where Schroder missed a floater and Montrezl Harrell missed two tip-in shots that would have given the Lakers the lead. However, after Barnes made two free throws to give the Kings a 123-120 lead, the Lakers drew up one last 3-point shot for Kyle Kuzma, who missed the 30-foot shot.

Despite James being sidelined, Los Angeles felt it did enough to win on Wednesday versus the Kings. Nevertheless, heading into All-Star weekend, the Lakers have lost seven of their past 10 games this season, placing them as the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Amid the recent struggles, Vogel isn't concerned with the outlook of the team:

At the least, the Lakers are expected to have James and Davis available after All-Star Weekend. With that being said, the guys who played on Wednesday weren't content with losing despite not having their superstar contributors on the court.