LOS ANGELES — The bad news for the Lakers started a few hours before tip-off with a surprising medical update.

They suddenly listed LeBron James as questionable for Thursday night’s game in Philadelphia because of soreness in his left knee.

“Questionable” on NBA medical reports means a 50-50 chance to play, but the Lakers’ odds were worse than that against the 76ers without James.

Anthony Davis looked great but had little help — and definitely missed James — in the Lakers’ 105-87 loss to Philadelphia.

James did not speak to reporters about his knee pain but Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said he “just woke up with it” and filed it under the day-to-day type of injury. 

James spent a few minutes shooting on the court about an hour before tip-off before but ultimately did not play. He had an athletic sleeve on his left leg while shooting and appeared to wince a couple of times.

James later tweeted out two emojis — an angry face shouting expletives and a face palm. 

As for the game, two issues plagued the Lakers (24-25). They could not make any 3-pointers and failed to take care of the ball while falling below .500 again.

Davis looked strong on offense and scored 31 points in only his second game since returning from a six-week absence because of a sprained knee. He had 23 points in the first half alone, but the Lakers trailed, 54-48, primarily because they made only one of 10 3-point shots.

Davis’ accuracy was not an issue. He made 14 of 21 shots.

“They went in tonight. Just trying to get back to my old self,” he said.

Davis hurt his wrist after a first-quarter dunk in which he fell down and landed on his wrist. He stayed in the game for a bit and returned with the wrist taped up. It is safe to say it did not bother him. Beyond his scoring, he took 12 rebounds and blocked four shots.

“Anthony played a hell of a game on both sides of the ball,” Vogel said. 

Malik Monk and Carmelo Anthony helped the Lakers beat Brooklyn two days earlier by making nine 3-pointers. Against Philadelphia, they made only two. The Lakers hit only six of 29 3-point shots (20.7%) as a team.

Anthony scored only nine points and had words with three 76ers fans in the fourth quarter. Arena security members removed two.

“Unacceptable language and unacceptable behavior by fans,” Vogel said. “There’s got to be a higher standard.”

James wowed the NBA world by scoring 25 or more points in 18 straight games, one of the longest streaks in Lakers history. He showed no signs of slowing down since turning 37 last month, though one stat continued to stick out beyond his points, rebounds and assists — his playing time. 

James is averaging 36.6 minutes, tied for fourth in the NBA and the most he had averaged in a season since leaving Cleveland in 2018. Reporters had asked repeatedly him about it and he continually shrugged it off. Earlier this week, he said he was in “one of the best zones offensively … in my career.”

“And I don’t plan on stopping,” he added. “That’s just how I feel. I feel fantastic.”

James did not appear to show any soreness Tuesday against Brooklyn. He scored 33 points in 34 minutes, adding seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

The Lakers fell to 2-2 on their season-long six-game road trip and were uncertain if James would play Friday in Charlotte. Their trip concludes Sunday in Atlanta.