Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 109-104 loss to Charlotte

After an uninspiring first half in a 21-point loss to San Antonio on Sunday, the Lakers got an “A” for effort against Charlotte on Tuesday night. But they lost a late lead and took another L in the win-loss column when Kemba Walker and Marvin Williams hit clutch three-pointers as the shot-clock expired in the final two minutes for the Hornets. Here are five things we learned from their 109-104 loss to Charlotte in Staples Center:

1. Julius Randle does have a “beast mode.” It was hard to tell after several weeks of uneven and unimpressive performances, but it emerged Tuesday night when the power forward, heeding the advice of Coach Luke Walton to “be more aggressive” on offense, tallied 23 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

“That’s the longest period of time he’s played hard like that all season long,” Walton said. “That’s really exciting to see, because when he can play like that and do it while still being under control, that’s when he’s at his best. It was a lot of fun to watch him play tonight.”

2. Randle hardly resembles a point guard at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, but he can assume the duties of one. He didn’t just dominate inside on both ends of the court Tuesday night. He often took the ball upcourt himself after grabbing a defensive rebound and set the offense in motion on the other end. The all-around performance required a sustained energy that Walton has seen rise in practice.

“Normally when he plays that hard, at the six-minute mark, he’s looking at me like, ‘I need [a rest],’ ” Walton said. “But we’ve been challenging him in practice to do everything at that tempo so he can start pushing through his wall, his limit as far as conditioning, to play when you’re that fatigued.

“He’s been committed to doing it, and I think it showed tonight, because once we got through the first quarter, I kept looking, and he kept giving me the nod-off, like he felt good. So it was good to see him go nine to 12 minutes with playing hard. This was his most consistent effort of the season.”

3. Randle should keep a tape of Tuesday night’s game handy. So says point guard D’Angelo Russell, who also had a strong game with 23 points on eight-of-17 shooting and five-of-eight three-pointers, and nine assists.

“I think he should really watch film on this game as far as how he played, the decisions he made,” Russell said of Randle. “I feel like this is a game he should constantly watch so he can keep doing that.”

Is there a reason Randle has certain games like this while he struggles in so many others?

“It’s all him; it’s all mental,” Russell said. “I feel like when he comes in and he’s alert and he’s active … myself and a lot of guys, you can tell when they’re tired or something is going on at home, you can tell when guys aren’t ready. But when he comes in and he’s alert, on his toes, talking, and he’s not distant from people, it’s fun to watch.”

4. David Nwaba will remember the first shot he took in the NBA — for the wrong reason. The former Los Angeles University High guard, signed to a 10-day contract earlier Tuesday, was as surprised as everyone else when he entered early in the fourth quarter of a close game and played five minutes.

Walton described Nwaba’s play as “really good” and praised the defensive specialist for the fact that he “did not seem timid out there,” but Nwaba’s only shot attempt, a 10-footer from the right side, banged off the backboard without hitting the rim.

“I wish I could take it back, but oh well,” Nwaba said of the shot. “I will always remember that one, but it is what it is.”

5. Walton knew when he took the job last year that growth and development would be far more important than winning for this young Lakers team, but that hasn’t made the losses — the Lakers are now 19-42, the third-worst record in the NBA — any easier to absorb.

“Losing is still very frustrating — it’s tough going home after games, and it definitely knocks some hours off the amount of sleep you get,” Walton said. “But by the time I wake up in the morning, I’m excited, I’m looking forward to what we can do today, what opportunities we have.

“And normally I’m pretty good at reminding myself about the big picture and what a great job this is, getting to work with these young guys the way we do, and them buying in and putting their trust in us. It normally works itself out by the morning practice.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

@MikeDiGiovanna