Dwight Howard ejected as Lakers lose to Raptors (VIDEO)

The Lakers lost to the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday by a final of 108-103, dropping them six games under .500 with three teams ahead of them for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Los Angeles played the entire second half without Dwight Howard, who was ejected with 1:18 to play in the second quarter after getting tangled up with Alan Anderson while battling for position on a free throw attempt from Metta World Peace.

Howard received his first technical of the game in the first quarter, while asking the nearest official for a foul that wasn’t called on one of his shot attempts.

Histrionics from the Lakers broadcasting team aside, this really is the problem with the dreaded double-technical foul call. When the referees lazily refuse to assign blame to one player or another and whistle them both for a foul when either (a) one is clearly at fault, or (b) the play could have gone without a call entirely, this is the unfortunate end result.

There didn’t need to be a call on either player in this situation; a mere warning would have sufficed. Instead, the Lakers were forced to play the second half without one of their main cogs inside, especially defensively.

Howard’s ejection was far from the reason the Lakers lost this one. Kobe Bryant struggled to find his shot for the second straight game, and while he finished with a team-high 26 points, it took him shooting 10-of-32 from the field to do so.

Pau Gasol was granted his wish of returning to the starting lineup, and he responded with a big game offensively, finishing with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting in 32 minutes. Earl Clark had another solid game, and finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds off the bench.

Once again, the issues on the defensive end of the floor ultimately doomed the Lakers. They allowed the Raptors — who had lost four straight coming into this one, and shoot just 43.9 precent from the field on the season — to score 52 points in the paint, and shoot close to 55 percent for the game.

Howard may have helped some in that regard, and he needs to do a better job of containing himself when dealing with the referees in order to stay on the floor with his teammates. But the issues are deeper than just one player, and after a couple of wins over some subpar opponents followed by an encouraging battle with the defending champion Heat, the Lakers seem to have regressed a bit, at least for one afternoon.