EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — LeBron James didn’t play. Anthony Davis limped up and down the court.

The Los Angeles Lakers looked like a beat-up team, and then it became official Sunday with a 129-118 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena.

Losers of six consecutive games, the Lakers (31-47) are in jeopardy of missing the play-in tournament. They have four games remaining and need some help to play beyond next Sunday’s regular-season finale.

LA trailed 10th-place San Antonio by 1.5 games in the standings before the Spurs’ Sunday night game against a listless Portland team. Only the top 10 teams in each conference play past the regular season.

The Lakers’ bad news began an hour before tip-off when coach Frank Vogel confirmed James was out because of a sprained ankle. The 37-year-old couldn’t answer the bell for Sunday afternoon’s game after playing 40 minutes and scoring 38 points Friday night in a season-crushing loss to New Orleans.

“It’s just a season of adjustment,” Vogel said. “We’ve got to play through it.”

They tried but couldn’t.

Davis started hobbling around the court late in the first quarter after landing off-balance while driving to the basket. He appeared to aggravate the sprained right foot that kept him out for six weeks before his return two days earlier.

Davis’ numbers were solid considering the discomfort — 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists — but it was unclear if he would play Tuesday in Phoenix. He was even seen jump-roping off to the side of the court in an effort to keep the foot loose in the fourth quarter.

“Look, he’s doing everything he can,” Vogel said. “The longer he stays out there, the more sore the foot it. You see him wincing, you see him struggling.”

“It was bothering me through the course of the game, start to finish,” Davis said. “It’s a time where we have to be able to fight through it. Doing everything I could on the sideline trying to keep it warm.”

The Lakers trailed by only one entering the fourth quarter but, in a phrase familiar to their followers this season, faded from there.

The team's defense was again the culprit, unable to stop three particular Nuggets. One of them made sense — MVP front-runner Nikola Jokic, who had 38 points along with 18 rebounds and six assists.

What also stung the Lakers, however, was 25 points from Will Barton and 24 from Aaron Gordon. Barton made six three-pointers, which matched the number made by the entire Lakers team.

Russell Westbrook put up some good stats and made a career-best 10 consecutive shots. He finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t enough.

Three of the Lakers’ last four games are on the road against elite Western Conference teams — Phoenix, Golden State and Denver. The odds are now squarely against them making the play-in tournament.

“Don’t worry about the math. Worry about the next game…and hopefully get a win against Phoenix,” Vogel said.