“Clippers#32 Blake Griffin dunks past Lakers#21 Ed Davis in the first half. The Clippers and Lakers played at Staples in Los Angeles, CA. January 7, 2015. (Photo by John McCoy Daily News)”

The lane opened up like the Red Sea. It left the Clippers with an invitation to become Lob City. It embarrassed the Lakers. And it exposed an issue that seems as long-lasting and as discomforting as an irritable rash that won’t go away.

The Lakers do not and cannot play defense, their season-long issue contributing to a 114-89 loss to the Clippers in a designated road game on Wednesday at Staples Center cementing the Lakers’ ninth loss to their crosstown counterpart in the past 10 games.

But the play described above topped it all. Lakers forward Wayne Ellington appeared confused on a defensive rotation. Lakers center Ed Davis and forward Jordan Hill slowly trudged back on defense. And Lakers guard Kobe Bryant seemed too set on both guarding the perimeter and ensuring that he does not appear in a poster. The end result: Clippers forward Blake Griffin punctuated a team-leading 27 point effort on 9-of-13 shooting and 13 rebounds with a windmill dunk in the second quarter without any Lakers player coming close to guarding him.

“We were soft,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “I don’t consider a lot of respect for that team over there. They’re a good team, but I don’t consider them a physical basketball team. But they came out and punched us. We were soft period.”

In case no one heard him the first time, Scott repeated his “soft” criticism regarding the Lakers’ non-existent defense in four different instances. The Lakers appeared soft when a combination involving Bryant, Ellington and Jeremy Lin allowed Clippers guard Chris Paul to unleash 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 11 assists. The Lakers looked soft when they allowed Griffin and DeAndre Jordan (10 points) to throw down lobs basically anytime they wanted. The Lakers seemed soft when Bryant’s non-existent defense made Matt Barnes appear like an All-Star with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting. The Lakers remained soft when the Clippers soon built as large as a 43-point lead.

“He said the same thing I said. He just didn’t use a toilet paper analogy.”” Bryant said, alluding to his practice tirade last month where he critiqued the team’s toughness. “They’re just better. They just got better players and they come at you in waves and they’re deeper. They have a lot of shooters on the floor

Yes, the Clippers ripped the Lakers as if they were “Charmin.”

It took six minutes for the Clippers to build a double-digit lead they never relinquished. It took nearly three quarters before Bryant would make his first basket, his four-points on 2-of-12 shooting, eight rebounds, seven assists and six turnovers in 28 minutes hardly suggested he benefited from three days of rest. It took one game for the Lakers to lament injuries to point guard Ronnie Price (fractured nose, flu) and swingman Wesley Johnson (strained right hip flexor), both of whom are considered the Lakers’ relatively strongest defensive players.

“It made a big difference,” Lakers forward Carlos Boozer said. “Those two guys helped us a lot. They play great d and are high intensity and could’ve changed the outcome.”

But based on how the Lakers played against the Clippers, that outcome may just decreased the point differential.

“We definitely had too many dunks at the rim,” Lakers forward Ed Davis said. “We put them on the line, but it wasn’t hard fouls. We definitely played soft.”

The Clippers threw down dunks with such frequency that the rim stopped them more often than the Lakers after a few mistime alley oop lobs went astray. The Clippers remained so aggressive that the Lakers only responded defensively by rewarding them trips to the foul line that resulted in a 22-of-30 clip. The Lakers’ defense seemed so atrocious that it barely became noticeable that six different Lakers players cracked double digits, including rookie guard Jordan Clarkson (14 points), Jordan Hill (13 points), Ellington (13 points), Jeremy Lin (12 points), Nick Young (11 points) and Boozer (10 points).

“We were soft,” Scott said. “I told them to man up, basically.”

Scott also reported telling his team something at halftime that he hopes “they take it to heart.” But he refused to discuss any further, saying “I’ll leave it at that.”

All of which only elicits more questions.

How did the Lakers field a competitive game on Monday against Portland without Bryant in the lineup. Why have the Lakers made fledgling progress defensively all season? Why does a team that has obstacles ranging from injuries, a brutal schedule and lacking personnel allow themselves to become outworked?

“They kicked our (tail) all the way around,” Davis said. “We definitely have to watch the film and get better.”

Whether that proves enough to solve the Lakers’ problems seems daunting. But Scott expects a much different product as early as when they begin practicing on Thursday.

“We’ll get a response from practice,” Scott said, “one way or another.”

Scott’s only response for now entailed talking about how “soft” the Lakers are, his piercing words becoming as biting as Griffin’s open windmill dunk.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com