The Lakers fell apart in the second half Saturday and lost a road game to the Dallas Mavericks, 108-93. Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Lakers fans can’t step away from the standings yet as this was a hand-wringing loss for their team.

Dallas moved within 1.5 games of the Lakers for fifth place in the Western Conference, pushing the Lakers slightly closer into uneasy territory. Seventh-place Portland moved 2.5 games within the Lakers.

The top six teams in the west do not have to participate in the play-in tournament next month. They get at least six days between the end of the regular season and the start of the first round of the playoffs, a potentially critical time for the Lakers to rest and regroup.

The Lakers were outscored in the second half Saturday, 62-35, as Dwight Powell scored a season-high 25 points. Powell, who averaged 4.8 points before Saturday, made 11 of 12 shots. Too many of them dunk off alley-oop passes.

Light-scoring Dorian Finney-Smith was also a problem, finishing with 21 points.

If there is good news for the Lakers, it’s their schedule over the next week. Their next four games are against teams well below .500 and fading from playoff contention — Orlando, Washington, Sacramento and Toronto.

2. Anthony Davis struggled in his second game back after missing more than two months because of Achilles’ tendon and calf soreness. 

He continued to have trouble with his outside touch. He made only five of 19 shots Saturday and scored an inefficient 17 points in 28 minutes.

He missed several key shots with the game still close, including a 12-footer, a turnaround eight-footer and two three-point attempts.

Davis also shot poorly in his return game Thursday against Dallas, making only two of 10 attempts. He has made only 24% of his shots since coming back from his injury.

“He’s got to use these games to play his way into shape,” Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said. “I thought he played well — didn’t shoot well, but that’s going to come.”

Davis spent a lot of time behind the arc Saturday and didn’t get much out of it, missing all six of his three-point shots.

There was a brief scare for Lakers fans when Davis grabbed his lower left leg in the third quarter, but it wasn’t the same leg that sent him to the sidelines for more than two months, and Davis quickly shook off getting kneed in the back of that leg.

3. Montrezl Harrell did not play Saturday, a surprising development for the hard-charging but undersized reserve center.

Instead, Marc Gasol picked up Harrell’s minutes after sitting out the previous three games.

Harrell got beat numerous times defensively off the pick-and-roll when the Lakers and Dallas played Thursday, perhaps the main reason he never got off the bench Saturday.

Gasol didn’t do much statistically with his time — one point and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. His lone highlight play was a nice backdoor pass for an assist in the second quarter.

“It’s not an ideal situation for anybody,” Gasol said. “It’s whatever the coach wants us to do…we’re going to try and stay ready.”

For what it’s worth, starting center Andre Drummond had a quiet game, scoring six points and taking 12 rebounds.

Vogel explained Harrell’s benching by saying he was merely “keeping all three centers sharp” by “giving each guy a look.”