LOS ANGELES, Calif. — It is no longer merely factual to call the Lakers a short-handed team. It is practically an insult, a fully underwhelming description of what the Lakers dealt with Thursday.

The Lakers played without four key players against the Miami Heat and somehow kept it close until the final minutes in a 110-104 loss at the American Airlines Arena.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had his best game of the season, scoring 28 points and making six 3-pointers, but the Lakers could not quite match the Heat and Jimmy Butler down the stretch.

That the game was close was an upset in itself.

In addition to injured All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers went without Kyle Kuzma (sore calf) and Talen Horton-Tucker, who served a one-game suspension for leaving the bench area during a scuffle in Tuesday’s game against Toronto.

That is an average total of 68.9 points and 25.8 rebounds sitting out for the Lakers.

Caldwell-Pope’s 15 points in the first half helped make it interesting as the Lakers held a 56-54 halftime edge. Butler, however, came alive in the second half and scored 10 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as the Heat slowly pulled away.

The Lakers trailed by three with five minutes to play and got no closer.

“Very proud of the effort, fight, and belief we had in one another,” Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said. “Our guys competed their tails off but didn’t play well enough. We fouled too much and turned the basketball over entirely too much, and those are the No. 1 and No. 2 ways of beating yourself.”

It was not all bad news for the Lakers, who remained in fifth place in the Western Conference.

Newly acquired center Andre Drummond looked lively with 15 points and 12 rebounds in his first full game since February 12.

Drummond’s debut with the Lakers was cut short last week after one of his toenails was torn off against Milwaukee. He subsequently missed three games before returning to the court against Miami. 

“It felt good. A little sore but nothing that’s going to hold me back,” Drummond said.

Dennis Schröder had a unique night, dishing out a game-high 14 assists but missing 10 of 12 shots for the Lakers. It was the most assists he has tallied since January 2018.

The Lakers are not just trying to overcome injuries and suspensions these days. Their schedule takes a turn for the worse over the next few weeks.

Thursday marked the start of a nine-game stretch against teams that would currently be playoff-bound. The Lakers’ road trip resumes Saturday in Brooklyn against the East-leading Nets.