As the game slipped away from the Los Angeles Lakers in the fourth quarter, Anthony Davis was slumped with his hands on his knees and LeBron James allowed Nikola Jokic to slip past and drive towards the net.

Their superstars were exhausted after giving everything, with James scoring 27 and assisting eight and Davis grabbing 32 points and 14 rebounds.

James turned back the clock with another impressive postseason performance and Davis was on top form. but the Lakers were still outclassed 114-103 by the Denver Nuggets.

The reigning NBA champions were behind at halftime, and the Lakers were feeling a huge win away in Denver to swing the series in their favor.

But just like last season the Nuggets relied on their secondary and had the stamina to push on, while the Lakers gassed out and felt the impact of an aging roster.

James is nearing 40, Davis is only 31 but has a history of fitness issues, and the desperation from D’Angelo Russell towards the end summed up an empty Los Angeles gas tank.

James is keen on winning another NBA championship before eventually retiring, but unless the Lakers can find another gear in this series, he may have to look elsewhere in the offseason.

on Gordon, Jamaal Murray, the Denver heroes from last season all made the Lakers pay.

While they were second-best in the first half their energy became too much to handle for Los Angeles.

The talented Michael Porter Jr. also had a game to remember, and James looked intimidated when he stepped off the court.

“It’s a big team. They got a big front court in MPJ, Joker, and Aaron Gordon,” James said after the game. “We just gotta do a better job of trying to get hits and collectively rebound the defensive glass.”

The Lakers may have realized with a minute to go in the fourth that the game was done, but the body language from their biggest stars was concerning.

Russell had the opportunity to assist their efforts and keep them in the game but missed 13 of his final 16 shot attempts.

He still scored 13 points on the night, but mentally he checked out during the later stages.

“I mean, I can’t be mad,” Russell said. “I don’t recall the last time I got 20 shots. So for me to get 20 good looks — not 20 ‘good,’ probably five or six of them were questionable.

“I know what I’m capable of. So honestly, I’m excited. I’m excited about that.” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was also positive despite a big missed opportunity and refused to pin any blame on Russell, instead encouraging him to keep going.

“D-Lo is a huge reason why we’re here in the first place,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.

“I’m not going to bail out on my player just because he’s missing the shots that he normally makes.

So same shots were going in against New Orleans [in the play-in tournament] and other games that he’s played in to help us get to this point. So it just wasn’t his night.”