Three Things to Know: Lakers eliminated from playoffs after epically disappointing season

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The warning signs were there when the Lakers went 0-6 in the preseason and got smacked around. We all ignored them, myself included.

The flaws in the roster were visible even before the season tipped off — Russell Westbrook was not a natural fit next to LeBron James, the Lakers were too old and not athletic enough, they lacked defenders — but LeBron had earned the benefit of the doubt. He wasn’t just one of the greatest players ever, he was the game’s greatest problem solver ever — he had lifted worse rosters to much higher heights. Anthony Davis is still elite and in his prime. LeBron and the Lakers would figure this out.

They didn’t. Tuesday night, the Lakers lost their seventh straight game, this time to the Phoenix Suns — a team that made sure all their stars dressed for what was a meaningless game for them because Davis said the other day the Lakers would have beaten the Suns in the first round last year if he were healthy, and the Suns took that personally. Phoenix ran Los Angeles out of the building 121-110 in a game that wasn’t that close (Phoenix led by 25 midway through the fourth, before garbage time).

The Lakers have been eliminated from even the play-in. They trail the Spurs by three games in the loss column with three to play, and the Spurs have the tiebreaker. It’s over.

That led to the Tweet of the night from the guys at Action Sports Network

Every other fanbase showing up to watch the end of the Lakers season pic.twitter.com/MQhiEsuRC0

— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) April