LOS ANGELES _ The injury-riddled Los Angeles Lakers used a different starting lineup for the 26th time this season, giving Alex Caruso his first start Thursday night with Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Moritz Wagner and JaVale McGee.
Predictably, the Lakers and another new lineup were swallowed up whole by the back-to-back NBA champion Golden State Warriors, a 108-90 trouncing at Staples Center before 18,997 fans.
At the very least, Caruso (nine points) provided the highlight of the game, a running, one-handed dunk in traffic that brought his teammates off the bench in admiration and had the fans cheering.
Otherwise, the almost unrecognizable Lakers played out the string of a lost season that dropped them to 35-44.
They had just 10 players in uniform, losing Kyle Kuzma for the third consecutive game with left foot tendonitis.
That meant Lakers coach Luke Walton had to play Johnathan Williams (17 points, 13 rebounds), Jemerrio Jones (four points, seven rebounds) and Isaac Bonga (four points), three call ups from Los Angeles' NBA development league team, the South Bay Lakers.
"I thought we had some really nice performances from some of the younger guys that are getting opportunities right now," Walton said. "So, it was good to see that."
Under those dire circumstances, Walton has found some sympathy from a friend and fellow coach in Golden State's Steve Kerr.
The two developed a strong bond while Walton was an assistant on Kerr's Warriors staff from 2014-16.
So it was natural for Kerr to be asked how difficult it has to be for Walton to deal with the challenges of coaching a team with all the injuries and the talk about his job security.
"Yeah, pretty much impossible job," Kerr said. "They were playing at a really high level Christmas when they came in (to Golden State) and beat us by about 30 (actually 26), things were looking good and then the injuries hit hard. Not much you can do. Not much anybody can do."
The Lakers had ascended to fourth in the Western Conference, showing signs of a developing team.
But LeBron James went down that Christmas night in Oakland with a groin injury, forcing the All-Star forward to miss 17 games. Lonzo Ball (ankle injury) and Brandon Ingram (right arm surgery) are out for the season.
The Lakers haven't recovered.
"When injuries hit and circumstances being the way they've been, tough job," Kerr said. "But always impressed by the way Luke handles himself and the way he handles his players and handles the pressure of the job. He's just cut out for this, because he's unbothered by pressure, by criticism, by anything. He just is who he is. He 100 percent authentic, genuine, great human being and great basketball coach.
"So it's always tough to see friends in the league going through struggles like the Lakers have, like Luke has with the team. It's also part of it. We all know. I haven't had to deal with it yet, but I will someday where things go wrong and you get a lot of heat and all that stuff. Circumstances come together or don't come togther, depending on your point of view. This is what we signed up for."
