The Lakers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 115-107, Monday at Staples Center. Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Lakers led the league in bench scoring

The Lakers led the league in bench scoring coming into Monday, averaging 54.7 points a game. That's impressive

Their reserves, however, were thoroughly outplayed by Portland’s backups and outscored by a 45-23 margin. That's not impressive.

Backup shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. outscored the Lakers’ reserves by himself, totaling 28 points in 24 minutes. He made seven of 11 three-pointers.

Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma cooled off after a solid start to the season and had only six points on two-of-nine shooting. Montrezl Harrell scored only nine points.

Coach Frank Vogel said his team was “stuck in the mud,” and there were few disagreements.

2. Anthony Davis not aggressive enough

Anthony Davis was, by his own admission, not aggressive enough in his return from a one-game absence because of a bruised calf.

He had only two points in the first half, making one of four shots, and finished with 13 points in 38 minutes.

It’s not the performance Lakers fans became accustomed to in Davis’ first season with the team.

Vogel blamed the team’s lack of ball movement and said he’d revisit ways to get Davis the ball in better spots.

3. Alex Caruso missed Monday's game due to COVID-19 protocols

There was a reminder Monday that bigger events were taking place beyond the X’s and O’s of a basketball game.

Reserve guard Alex Caruso became the Lakers’ first player to miss a game because of the league’s COVID-19 health and safety standards. Specific details pertinent to Caruso were not released.

If contact tracing shows that a player was around someone who tested positive for COVID-19, he must automatically quarantine for one week, as per NBA rules.

And if a player tests positive for COVID-19, he’s not allowed to exercise for 10 days and then must be monitored in individual workouts for another two days before potentially returning.

No other Lakers sat out Monday for health reasons.

The Lakers are not alone in having a player miss a game because of COVID-19 guidelines. Four Houston players are toward the end of a one-week quarantine because of contact tracing, including key players John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Gordon.

If Caruso sits out a week, he would miss a total of four games — Monday against Portland, two road games in San Antonio and one in Memphis.