EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t make much news on the court Thursday night, a complete change from the previous two days.

They were very short-handed after a flurry of trades reshaped their roster over a 24-hours span before Thursday’s deadline. Only nine players suited up for LA in a 115-106 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena.

LeBron James sat out because of ankle soreness two days after passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. The Lakers were also without five players they shipped out in trades — and also without the five players they acquired via trades.

The effort was there. The Lakers trailed by only six against the fully healthy Bucks late in the fourth quarter, but the result pushed LA (25-31) one game further from a spot in the play-in tournament.

“I’m totally proud with the way we competed being a little short-handed,” coach Darvin Ham said before alluding to the five new players who will be joining the team. “We’ll figure it out. We have a lot of serviceable players. It’s a good problem to have.”

The biggest deal came Wednesday when the Lakers pulled the plug on the Russell Westbrook experiment, sending him and a first-round pick to Utah in a three-team trade that brought back former draft pick D’Angelo Russell from Minnesota, along with capable Utah role players Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt.

On Thursday, LA took part in a four-team trade that sent Patrick Beverley to Orlando and Thomas Bryant to Denver while getting back Orlando center Mo Bamba, seldom-used Denver forward Davon Reed and two second-round draft picks.

The Lakers had two massive needs before the trade deadline: defense and shooting. They addressed both.

They were 26th in three-point shooting before the trade deadline but added solid shooters in Russell and Beasley.

Over the last two seasons, Beasley is third in the NBA in made three-pointers with 409, trailing only Buddy Hield and Steph Curry.

Russell was an All-Star back in 2019 and was shooting 39% from three-point range this season with Minnesota. He’s worked on his shot since being drafted by the Lakers in 2015 — he was only 35% from deep with the Lakers his first two years in the league.

Lakers center Anthony Davis spoke favorably of Russell, whose nickname is D-Lo.

“D-Lo is D-Lo — able to score the basketball, play-make. An elite sniper,” Davis said.

Beasley and Russell are heavy volume shooters too, hoisting almost 16 three-pointers per game between the two of them this season. They’re also young, only 26 years old each, though Russell turns 27 in a couple of weeks.

Adding Bamba should help the Lakers in rim protection, an area where they’ve been middle of the pack stat-wise.

Bamba tied for fifth last season in blocked shots in only 26 minutes per game. He fell out of Orlando’s rotation this season with Bol Bol playing well and Jonathan Isaac returning after a long layoff.

Bamba can also hit threes, a nice bonus, drilling almost 40% this season. It’s on relatively low volume, though, unlike Beasley and Russell.

The Lakers have three more games before the All-Star break. Four of the new players are expected to be available Saturday at Golden State. Bamba will miss two more games while serving a suspension for a fight in a game last week.

“On paper, we look complete… shooting, play-making, scoring. Added a little bit more experience,” Davis said. “We’ll see. Like I said, we look good on paper.”

As for Thursday’s game, the Lakers led at halftime, 58-50, buoyed by 13 points from Austin Reaves, including a lay-up off a wicked crossover dribble that fooled Giannis Antetokounmpo midway through the second quarter. Milwaukee wasn’t helped by brutal five-for-28 three-point shooting in the half.

Then came the third quarter, the one that’s tormented LA so often this season. The Bucks scored 38 points in the quarter and never trailed again. Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday combined for 26 points in the quarter.

Antetokounmpo finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the game.

“Tough third quarter defensively,” said Davis, who battled foul trouble and scored only 23 points on nine-for-22 shooting. “We gave up 38 points in the third quarter, which is ultimately the x-factor in the game.”