Another loss wasn’t surprising Thursday, but the big picture continues to go beyond startling.

The short-handed Lakers fell to the Utah Jazz, 122-109, which wasn’t unexpected considering LeBron James and Anthony Davis sat out because of injuries.

But reality keeps bumping into the Lakers. They fell out of the top 10 in the Western Conference and, as of now, out of the post-season.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis didn’t play against Utah as the Lakers allowed too many points (again) and fell into a tie with the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs own the tiebreaker with the Lakers, meaning there would be no post-season for the Lakers — not even the play-in tournament — if the regular season ended Thursday.

Luckily for the Lakers, they still have six games — including their biggest so far this season — Friday at home against New Orleans. James and Davis are expected to play, according to an ESPN report, giving the Lakers their healthiest lineup since Davis sprained his foot Feb. 16.

The Pelicans (33-43) are currently ninth in the West and can create serious problems for the Lakers with a victory. Conversely, the Lakers (31-45) can take a decisive step toward playing beyond the regular season with a victory Friday.

In the newly configured NBA playoff structure, the top six teams in each conference automatically qualify for the playoffs. Teams 7-10 in the East and West battle for the final two playoff spots in each conference via the play-in tournament.

“Big game for us. We know that. They know that. Our job is to show up and be ready to play,” said Russell Westbrook, who scored 24 points against Utah.

The Lakers would be helped immensely by the return of Davis and James, who’s missed two games because of a sprained ankle.

“It’d be great having both those guys back. We need every game,” center Dwight Howard said. “We really need this one.”

To get it done, they’ll have to play better defense than they displayed against Utah.

The Jazz had plenty of open looks from three-point range and ended a five-game losing streak by outscoring the Lakers by 24 behind the arc.

The Lakers didn’t allow a 40-point quarter — seemingly a rarity since the All-Star break — but Utah still scored 99 points through three quarters.

In fact, the Lakers haven’t kept a team under 100 points in a game since Feb. 2.

Thursday’s game wasn’t as bad as the Lakers’ previous outing, a 128-110 loss to Dallas in which they trailed by 37 at one point. This was more of a steady slow burn as the Lakers gradually fell further and further from victory.

“I think our guys played hard and played together. I do feel like we responded,” Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said.

Howard had a solid game and finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. His first half (15 points, seven rebounds) helped keep the Lakers within shouting distance of the Jazz. Well, fairly distant shouting distance — the Lakers trailed, 66-55.

Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and Rudy Gobert added 25 for Utah.

All that matters now to the Lakers is Friday’s game. It could make or break their season, an unforeseen reality so early in the NBA schedule.