EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — LeBron James flew back to Los Angeles to have his sore left knee examined.

The LA Lakers' day didn’t get any better on the court.

Malik Monk had his best game yet with the Lakers, but the Atlanta Hawks crushed them in the fourth quarter Sunday for a 129-121 victory.

First, the big-picture news: James left the team before the game because he continued to feel pain in his knee. An MRI exam confirmed the existence of inflammation, as James sat out his third consecutive game.

“As long as the swelling is there, he’s gonna be out,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

At the same time, Vogel said there was a “possibility” James would play Wednesday against Portland.

“Just going to keep an eye on it, day to day,” Vogel said.

The Lakers (24-27) looked like they’d have enough offense to win without James. Instead, they fell to a season-worst three games below .500.

Monk and Anthony Davis had strong starts, scoring 19 and 18 points respectively in the first half, as the Lakers took a 71-62 edge. They increased the lead to 10 by the end of the third quarter, but that was the end of their fun.

Trae Young got hot as the Hawks outscored the Lakers in the fourth quarter, 38-20. It was obviously their day when Young launched a 30-foot three-point shot that rolled around the rim, popped up, hit the background and fell through the hoop with just under a minute to play.

Monk scored a season-high 33 points and added 10 rebounds for the Lakers. It wasn’t enough.

“They just picked their pressure up a little bit,” Monk said before assessing his own team. “Not enough energy, not enough urgency on both ends. They hit us in the mouth, and we were supposed to hit them back, and that’s something we didn’t do.”

The Lakers continued to get beat badly in the paint, a monthlong issue for them. The Hawks ran them over for 62 points in the paint.

Young scored 36 points, plenty of which were by the basket, while Hawks centers Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu combined to make 14 of 17 shots.

Davis scored 27 points for the Lakers, who finished 2-4 on a season-long six-game road trip that could be called unsuccessful at best.

There were victories over hapless Orlando and an undermanned Brooklyn team, yet also some “should-haves” — a narrow loss in Charlotte was almost impressive without James and Davis, while Sunday’s loss easily could have been a win if not for a fourth-quarter collapse.

“We’ve just got to get home and put this trip behind us,” Vogel said. “Get ready for the next game, whether LeBron’s in or out.”