It almost sounds like something to balance the leaderboards. Meaning someone very experienced and strong cannot just farm on the weak for easy points but I couldn't say for sure.

It will be a glitch.
One glitch is when you're put in to a game, but it doesn't show you. All you see is the normal looking for game screen. Of course, because you're not in the game, you lose the game. The points lost for this game will carry over to the next game as you haven't seen the Victory or Defeat pop up yet. That way, when you win your next match, you lose points for losing your previous match (that you probably didn't even play).

This has been what's happening in my previous experience anyway

Alright let's go with that.