Just when it looked like momentum had joined the Lakers, the Minnesota Timberwolves came to town and ended all the fun.

A modest two-game winning streak crashed with a thud after another poor third quarter in the Timberwolves' 107-83 thumping of the Lakers on Friday at Staples Center.

The third quarter has been a particular problem spot for the Lakers this season. It was an absolute horror Friday.

The Lakers were pummeled in it, 40-12, and went more than seven minutes without a basket until Avery Bradley's three-pointer with 3:44 left in the third quarter.

The 28-point differential was the worst ever for a Lakers' third quarter.

Anthony Davis held nothing back in his post-game comments with reporters. The Lakers forward-center was especially irked by what happened after halftime, understandably, as a five-point Lakers lead disappeared with stunning quickness.

"We sucked. No defense. Can't score," Davis said. "Every third quarter we played this season, we come out slow and lackadaisical offensively and defensively. We've got to get it together."

Davis wasn't done.

"We've got to decide who we're gonna be. We're not gonna win a championship the way we're playing…That was embarrassing," he added.

Davis also didn't want to hear any injury excuses even though the Lakers went without five players Friday, including LeBron James (strained abdomen).

"We still don't have our guys back. But we have enough to win basketball games," Davis said.

Not even Carmelo Anthony could help the Lakers, cooling off with three points on one-for-12 shooting after a torrid start to the season.

Russell Westbrook had an off night, too, scoring 20 points but seeing his three assists more than canceled out by five turnovers. He was a staggering minus-32 in the plus-minus category.

"Our opponent doesn't really matter. It's more about us," Westbrook said. "We've got to do a better job of locking in on what we do."

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 18 of his 29 points in the third quarter to help the Timberwolves end a six-game losing streak. Former Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell got hot in the second half and finished with 22 points and seven assists.

The Lakers were allowing an NBA-worst 31 points per third quarter coming into Friday, a number that will worsen for them.

The Lakers did get good news before tip-off in the form of a medical update on James, who missed his fifth consecutive game because of the abdominal injury. He was upgraded to day-to-day after lingering in the week-to-week category since the injury occurred, Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said.

The Lakers' next game is at home Sunday against San Antonio. Maybe James plays. The Lakers could definitely use him.

"There's no better motivator than a bad loss. I think our guys are angry. Our coaching staff is angry," Vogel said. "We're not a great team until we become one."