Is Anthony Davis’ return too little, too late?

Although it only counted as one loss, there were painful layers to the defeat the Lakers experienced on Sunday afternoon. For one, it was a game they should have won, and — given their direct competition with the New Orleans Pelicans when it comes to play-in ramifications — a matchup they needed to win.

But despite holding a 20-plus point lead at one portion of the game, the team dug down and found yet another way to blow it, adding even more obstacles on their potential road to the postseason with the Pelicans leapfrogging them in the standings and the Spurs hot on their heels.

To make matters worse, LeBron James suffered a scary ankle injury during the contest that has him listed as “doubtful” for Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. And with an already thin margin for error, James’ absence makes that margin nearly nonexistant.

Fortunately, the club did share some positive news on the injury front as Anthony Davis participated fully in a 5-on-5 scrimmage, further signaling his eventual return may be soon on the horizon.

But with James’ status currently unknown going forward, and the team’s upcoming schedule only becoming increasingly more difficult, there are still legitimate concerns that the team may fall out of the play-in altogether. How real those concerns should be is the basis of today’s show.

On this week’s episode of Talk-O-Tuesday, our hosts Alex Padilla and Alex Regla discussed the Lakers’ current playoff hopes following their crushing loss to the Pelicans, how the Spurs factor in, as well as James and Davis’ statuses going forward.

Also on the show, the duo spoke about Eric Pincus’ expansive piece on how the team has gotten to this point, and whether this season will be the wake-up call the franchise needs when it comes to avoiding the same mistakes that continue to stunt their growth.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.