The Los Angeles Lakers' 11th consecutive loss to the Denver Nuggets — and seventh straight in the NBA Playoffs — effectively ended their 2023-24 season.

For the third straight game of the series — this time, in front of a revved-up Crypto.com Arena — the Lakers jumped to a double-digit lead. As usual, the Nuggets calmly chipped away with an air of inevitability that has defined the one-sided rivalry for two years.

The Lakers' execution waned as halftime neared. Out of the locker room, they were fatally flat. Denver opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run en route to a 34-22 period. For the series, the Lakers — who led 68-48 in Game 2 — have been outscored by 31 points in the third quarter.

“Atrocious,” Austin Reaves said about the Lakers' post-halftime performances. “If we want to fight our way back into this one Saturday, we obviously have to be good in all quarters. But that third quarter, especially.”

“I think they just get more detailed,” Gabe Vincent said about Michael Malone's well-oiled machine. “Their execution picks up. They're a little more locked in than we are to come out the half.”

LeBron finished with 26 points (12-for-20 shooting), nine assists, and six rebounds in 42 minutes. His abysmal effort on the glass contributed to Aaron Gordon's monster game (29 points, 15 rebounds) and the Nuggets' dominance on the offensive glass (14 boards).

“I feel like we spend so much energy in the first half building leads or with the defensive intensity that we come out in the third quarter with not much energy, or kind of lose track of our attention to detail,” LeBron said.

Anthony Davis put up 33 points on 14-for-23 shooting and 15 rebounds in 43 minutes. Once again, LeBron and AD didn't get nearly enough support from their supporting cast, despite playing at home for the first time since April 9.

A pair of meaningless late 3-pointers boosted Reaves' box score — 22 points, 8-for-17 shooting — though his defense (four steals) on Jamal Murray (8-for-21 FG) remains impressive.

D'Angelo Russell (0 points) and Rui Hachimura (5 points) were non-factors (they declined to answer questions postgame). Only three Lakers hit double-figures.

By the end of the fourth quarter, the Lakers fans who hadn't bolted to beat traffic were chanting “Fire Darvin.”

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Thursday's familiar, uninspired death knell comes on the heels of a tense few days for the Lakers in the aftermath of Murray's Game 2 buzzer-beater.

Davis, after the 86th game of the season, seemingly questioned the coaching staff, admitting the Lakers “have stretches where we don't know what we're doing on both ends of the floor.”

Darvin Ham publicly disagreed with his star the day before the biggest game of the season. The two reportedly met privately to diffuse the situation.

The third quarter of Game 3 could be classified as one of those stretches AD was talking about.

“I think Denver is just beating us, to be honest,” Reaves said when asked if it feels like the Nuggets are the only team making adjustments. “You can talk about adjustments…but at the end of the day, you got to man up and go win.”

No team has ever come from 3-0 down to win a playoff series. At least there's a first for everything, right?

After all, LeBron James had never lost to the same opponent 11 times in a row.

“It's one game at a time at this point,” LeBron said about the mindset for Saturday's Game 4. “As long as you still have life, then you always have belief. You play until the wheels fall off.”

Until?