MINNEAPOLIS -- Playing on the second night of a road back-to-back can only be so much of a reason for the Lakers' offensive performance in their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.
Because the 109-80 defeat - their fifth loss in seven games - was the latest example of struggles that have gone on for more than a week.
Outside of D'Angelo Russell, who scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting (4 for 5 from 3-point range) to go with five assists, most of the Lakers struggled to find their rhythm.
LeBron James' cold streak continued, with the 39-year-old star forward finishing with 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting to go with eight rebounds and four assists.
He also had six turnovers, continuing his trend of struggling to take care of the ball. James had averaged 5.1 turnovers in the previous 10 games entering Monday.
James missed all four of his 3-point attempts, putting him at 19 consecutive misfires from behind the arc over the past four games.
He missed nine 3-point attempts in Sunday's one-point victory over Utah, the first night of the back-to-back, didn't make any of his four attempts from long range in Friday's home loss to Oklahoma City and missed a pair of 3-point shots in a road win against the San Antonio Spurs last Wednesday.
"Certain players, maybe you need to say, 'Hey, keep shooting.' I'm not worried about that with 23," Coach JJ Redick said of James before Monday's game. "I want us to shoot 3s. I want us to shoot catch-and shoot threes. I want us to shoot rhythm dribble threes. I tend to, with all our guys, get a little frustrated when we pass up shots that are especially catch-and-shoot varieties."
Anthony Davis also had an uncharacteristic inefficient shooting night, scoring just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting to go with 11 rebounds and five assists.
Rui Hachimura was the only other player to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Redick assessed his team at the quarter mark of the season as "uneven and inconsistent," but this loss didn't even clear that bar. The Lakers' point total was their lowest since a 122-73 loss to Dallas on Jan. 22, 2017.
Their 106.4 offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) over their previous five games ranked 26th in the league. The Lakers (12-9) have scored fewer than 30 points in 19 of the last 24 quarters they've played and they are shooting just 30% from 3-point range over their past seven games, when they have been outscored by 10.1 points per game.
After trailing by double digits for most of the final 18 minutes, Redick removed most of his main rotation players with 7:41 remaining and the team trailing 94-69.
The Timberwolves (10-10) were led by Julius Randle's 18 points and Rudy Gobert's 17 points and 12 rebounds. Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each scored 15. Anthony Edwards had only eight points on 3-for-13 shooting.