Playing shorthanded is nothing new for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, but Saturday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers may have been their most shorthanded game yet. 

Not only were the Lakers missing their starting back court with both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out with injuries, but they were deprived of their two centers as well with both Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes out on Saturday.

The two big men were questionable on the Lakers' injury report ahead of the game and neither ended up playing, leaving Maxi Kleber to take up starting center duties. 

Playing without at least one star has been common place for the Lakers this season, but that doesn't mean that Lakers head coach JJ Redick's expectations change at all for his team. 

"We don't go into games thinking, 'Tonight's going to be rough' or 'we can't win." Redick said (via BASKETMAN). "Our belief level, the standards, the expectations, they don't change."

Mindset is often half the battle in a NBA game. Going into a game with a defeatist attitude is almost a guaranteed recipe for disaster and considering the adversity the Lakers have faced in regard to their injuries, maintaining a resilient mindset is crucial. 

Saturday's game may have ended in a 132-116 loss for the Lakers, but playing at less than 100% hasn't always been an issue for Los Angeles. 

At different times this season the Lakers have had to play with at least one of their three major stars in Doncic, Reaves or LeBron James missing, and they've faired well during many of those instances. 

"This is been like the normal all season," Redick said. "We've actually beaten a bunch of good teams. You play a team the second time around sometimes and you rewatch the game and you're like 'oh s**t we didn't have Austin that game or we didn't have Luka that game."

Reaves especially has shown his ability to rise to the occasion as the leading star of the roster. He famously scored a career-high 51 points in a game in late October where the Lakers were missing both Doncic and James. 

The Lakers have now lost five of their last six games after falling to the Trail Blazers as their skid continues. The injury trouble the Lakers faced heading into Saturday's game makes the loss somewhat easier to swallow, but it does nothing to remedy the feeling of the Lakers rough stretch of games.

Los Angeles will certainly benefit from the return of Reaves from his calf strain, but a timely return for the star guard is not likely. Calf injuries are a delicate subject for NBA players considering the risk that a re-injury can pose and the Lakers will likely mot want to rush him back by any means. 

The Lakers still own a healthy 24-16 record despite their recent struggles, but changes will likely need to happen soon if the Lakers want to avoid burning through the sizable cushion in the standings that they built for themselves with their early season success.