Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton is hoping his team can learn through a simple approach — trial by fire — after star LeBron James' “how do you know if you've never been there before” comments.

“Experience is the best way to learn,” said Walton, according to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register. “It is new for some of the guys. But I expect us for the majority of this time to play with the urgency and the will that it takes. …”

“It’s definitely something as a group, being a new team together and relying on a lot of young players, that’s new. We’re learning. … It won’t be perfect, but we’ll continue to come out and get better and we’ll see if we can’t make some noise down the stretch.”

The Lakers now find themselves three games behind the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference after a loss to the Anthony Davis-less New Orleans Pelicans, putting James in uncharted waters with only 21 games left in the regular season.

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Walton will have few options beyond his young core mustering their best effort to make the playoffs, as their hallway rivals, the LA Clippers, are still hoping to make the postseason, according to owner Steve Ballmer. To make matters more difficult, the Sacramento Kings are hitting their stride after the acquisition of Harrison Barnes and are two games above the Lakers.

Los Angeles will have a merciless run ahead, still awaiting two games against the Milwaukee Bucks, one against the Denver Nuggets, another against the defending champion Golden State Warriors and three other crucial matchups — two against the Clippers and one against the Kings — all three proving utmost vital to their playoff chances.