Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 133-109 loss to the Clippers

The Clippers and Lakers are in vastly different places and began Tuesday night’s game with very different goals.

Here are five takeaways from the Lakers’ 133-109 loss to the Clippers.

1. Jordan Clarkson had probably his toughest outing since he began starting at point guard. He shot one for nine and had a team-low plus-minus rating of 27.

“He never got in a rhythm,” Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. “You’re going to have bad shooting nights but that’s kind of part of what we’re trying to teach. Even when you have bad shooting nights, impact the game in a positive way somewhere else.”

2. As if to illustrate that everything was going right for the Clippers, Jamal Crawford swished a half-court shot as the third quarter expired.

3. The Clippers have played well lately and Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell made this observation: “Their team chemistry is off the charts. They play really well together.” Playing together is something the Lakers struggled with on Tuesday night.

4. Walton’s initial critique of the Lakers, beyond purely their effort level, was that they weren’t playing as a team. “Until the team means more than the individual, it’s going to be really hard to win,” he said. He added that there are times when the Lakers play together and as a team, but that goes away too quickly when adversity strikes.

5. Thomas Robinson was a bright spot for the Lakers. When Walton benched the starting lineup for the start of the second half, he got a solid effort out of Robinson, which is what he sought. In 10 minutes, Robinson made seven of eight shots, scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. He also had an assist.

“I don’t think everybody had a bad night,” Robinson said in quotes distributed by the team. “I just think the score was overwhelming, so you really can’t notice it. ... I just have to stay ready and on some nights things like that may happen.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

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