The Lakers are in freefall.

The Los Angeles Lakers are spiraling at the worst possible time. Austin Reaves has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season with a Grade 2 oblique strain, and Luka Doncic is managing a hamstring issue that's limited his effectiveness in recent games.

LA got blown out by the Thunder on Tuesday and has now lost three straight. The damage: they've slipped behind Denver for the 3-seed, and the Houston Rockets — who beat the Suns on the same night — are now tied with LA for the 4/5 seeds. The Lakers hold the tiebreaker for now, but three games remain and the margin for error is gone.

LeBron James is essentially carrying the offense alone at this point. The Lakers went from looking like a legitimate contender with homecourt advantage to potentially being the 5-seed facing the Thunder or Spurs in round one. With Reaves definitely out and Luka questionable, the playoff outlook has darkened significantly in the span of a week.