The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a crushing defeat to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, putting a dent in their 2018-19 playoff hopes. Following the game, LeBron James was cognizant of the fact that the Lakers could have really used a win:

“I mean, listen, we obviously, we needed this game for obvious reasons,” James said, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. “We wanted to play well. At times we played well. I think we was always together at times as well. Had the right mind frame of what we were trying to accomplish tonight. It's just unfortunate with the opportunity that we had, and we haven't been able to seize that opportunity.”

Following the defeat, Los Angeles 4.5 games behind the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers for the seventh and eighth seeds in the Western Conference, with the Sacramento Kings also sitting in their path. The loss to the Suns, who have the league's lowest winning percentage (.203), is certainly a crushing setback when taken in totality with the Lakers' other awful losses of late.

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James himself has not missed out on the postseason since 2004-05, his second year in the league as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lakers' franchise hasn't made the playoffs since 2012-13.

Los Angeles isn't quite finished yet, with their next matchup coming Monday against the Clippers, where a win would be crucial in closing the gap. But there won't be time to waste as the Lakers' final five games are set to come against teams who all currently hold spots in the Western Conference playoff picture.