If there was any doubt about how important LeBron James remains to the Los Angeles Lakers, Friday’s loss at Minnesota was a stark reminder.

Without their 39-year-old superstar, the Lakers posted their second-lowest point total of the season with a 97-87 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles fell to 13-12 and 10th in the Western Conference, continuing its downward spiral of the past three weeks. The Lakers have lost eight of their last 11 games, five of which were by double digits.

James, sidelined by left foot soreness and unavailable for the team for personal reasons, missed his second straight game. He did not travel with the team to Minnesota after failing to attend Tuesday’s voluntary Get What You Need day or Wednesday’s practice due to an excused absence. It is unclear when he will return to the team, said coach JJ Redick.

What is clear, however, is how much the Lakers missed the 22-year-old veteran, regardless of what alternate reality his plus-minus or on-off numbers suggest.

Without James, Los Angeles matched its season high with 22 turnovers and shot a season-low 38.4 percent from the field. Only three players – Anthony Davis (23 points), Austin Reaves (18 points) and Max Christie (career-high 15 points) – scored in double figures. The Lakers put up 23 or fewer points in every quarter.

“I think we did enough defensively,” Davis said. “Just didn’t do enough offensively.”

The Lakers’ offense started slowly as they adjusted to another new starting lineup: Davis, Christie, Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent. Los Angeles had half of its turnovers (11) in the first frame and made simple mistakes like wobbly dribbles and fumbled kick-out passes.

Reaves, who returned to the lineup after missing the last five games with a left pelvis bruise, took the blame for the offense looking disorganized for long stretches as he tried to shake off his rust.

“A lot of it in the first quarter was my fault,” Reaves said. “We haven’t organized ourselves. Not being on the field for the last two weeks, I thought, left me with a little indecision about what we could have done. So I have to get better there.”

This season, the Lakers have been 10.9 points per 100 possessions worse with James on the floor – the worst mark among their rotation players and the first time in James’ career that one of his teams has been better with him on the floor than off the floor . This is largely due to the Lakers’ defensive issues with James on the court, as they are 0.2 points per 100 possessions better offensively when he is on the court. Conversely, with him, they are 11.2 points worse defensively per 100 possessions.

This difference in offense pales in comparison to some of the other on-off differences between the rotation’s main players, but it still underscores James’ importance as a scorer, playmaker and ball-handler in a group that may be deficient in that regard. They are no longer as reliant on James as in past seasons, but given his superior shooting and passing skills compared to Davis, he is still their best offensive option in critical moments.

Aside from Davis, James and Reaves, the Lakers have struggled to find consistent offensive production during their recent downturn, with D’Angelo Russell, Hachimura, rookie Dalton Knecht, Vincent and Christie fluctuating in their production and shooting.

James is coming off one of his worst shooting slumps and is averaging the second-most turnovers of his career, but remains one of the game’s best offensive forces. And the Lakers aren’t built to survive his absence, even though they beat Portland without him last Sunday and were 6-5 without him last season. The rest of the supporting cast just wasn’t good enough or reliable.

And while James’ defense has ranged from subpar to damaging for much of this season, the Lakers certainly missed his size and defensive rebounding. They were already without backup centers Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood as well as top fullback Jarred Vanderbilt, leaving their frontcourt particularly thin against one of the league’s largest and most physically impressive front lines. The Timberwolves’ frontcourt showed its will and outscored the Lakers’ frontline 61-40.

Davis, leaning against his locker visibly frustrated after the loss, dismissed the notion that the Lakers didn’t have enough to beat the Wolves despite missing James and more than half of their frontcourt.

“I mean, (we have) Christian (Koloko), Rui — myself, I just have to figure it out,” Davis said. “No matter who plays, we have to figure it out with the five players on the field.”

Asked if he had recently spoken to James about setting the tone at this stage as the Lakers try to regain control of their season, Davis responded with his shortest answer of the night.

“No, I didn’t talk to him about that,” Davis said, shaking his head.

James is averaging 23.0 points, eight rebounds, 9.1 assists and 4.1 turnovers in 35.0 minutes per game this season. He appeared in 23 of the Lakers’ 25 games after stating earlier in the season that he planned to play in all 82 games.

He aggravated his left foot in the Lakers’ 41-point loss to the Miami Heat on December 4. James was listed as questionable for the Lakers’ next game in Atlanta on Dec. 6 before eventually overcoming his ailments. Because of his foot pain, he had to miss the Lakers’ next game, at home against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Lakers play the Memphis Grizzlies next Sunday in Los Angeles – also the first unofficial day of the trade season – and it is unknown whether James will be available. If James plays in the Memphis game, he would have eight days off between games. If he rests, he’ll have another four days off, as the Lakers don’t play again until Thursday in Sacramento after three games in 13 days.

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(Top photo: Jordan Johnson / Getty Images)