The Los Angeles Lakers suffered another frustrating loss on Tuesday night in what has become somewhat of a theme for them this season. Just when JJ Redick and company seem like they are finally building some momentum, they take a step back with a performance like this one as the Philadelphia 76ers handled them 118-104.

Of course, things got very tough for the Lakers after star big man Anthony Davis left the game with an abdomen injury and did not return. Without Davis, the burden fell almost entirely on LeBron James to carry the load, and he wasn't able to.

Without Davis, the 76ers beat the Lakers badly in the possession battle. Philadelphia collected 12 offensive rebounds to the Lakers' four, and the 76ers won the turnover battle 22-9. After the game, Redick was not pleased with his team's effort in the loss, via Spectrum SportsNet.

“You're not going to win a game if somebody takes 19 more shots than you and gets 8 more offensive rebounds,” Redick said. “We were throwing the ball everywhere. I think that is just fatigue, mental and physical. Just bad decision making and poor execution. Very unorganized throughout the game.”

This loss drops the Lakers to 26-19 and they are now just a half game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers for fifth place in the Western Conference. This was the Lakers' third game in four nights and the second half of a back-to-back after Monday's win against the Hornets, so maybe the schedule had a lot to do with this poor performance.

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Lakers trying to find consistency in unpredictable West

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Bronny James (9) look on during the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Lakers have had very high highs and very low lows this season, which is a trait that they share with a lot of the Western Conference. Almost every team out west except for the Oklahoma City Thunder has been very up and down this season, leading to a lot of shakeups in the standings.

Recently, the Lakers have been able to find a little bit more consistency than some of the other teams, which is why they are ahead of most of them at the current moment. However, they have had far too many nights like Tuesday where they get outworked and turn the ball over too many times to be competitive.

Losing Anthony Davis for any amount of time will obviously make that much tougher, but if Davis is back soon, there's no reason why the Lakers can't avoid the play-in this season. Whether they make another deal at the trade deadline or not, Redick and company have shown that they have the goods to compete with almost anyone with this version of the roster. If they can keep the turnovers down and the effort up, this team will be a very tough out as the season goes along.