LOS ANGELES — The birth certificate doesn’t lie. LeBron James turns 37 on Thursday.

His stats on the court continued to defy logic Wednesday, but there was one thing he couldn’t do — gift the Lakers a victory.

A herky-jerky season took another step back in a 104-99 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

It was a game the Lakers could have won — should have won? — but the setbacks continued to pile up for a team that won’t have a winning record going into 2022.

The Lakers (17-19) were solid for 36 minutes until scoring only 16 fourth-quarter points. That won’t win many closely contested road games. It didn’t in Memphis.

“Ughhh,” said Lakers assistant coach David Fizdale, capturing the Lakers’ offensive collapse with one sound effect. “For whatever reason, we ran out of energy.”

James passed the 30-point plateau for a sixth consecutive game, an impressive run for any NBA player, let alone one in his 19th NBA season. He finished with 37 points and tied a career high by making eight three-point shots. His touch faltered in the fourth quarter, however, and he missed six of nine attempts.

On the Lakers’ last meaningful possession, James stumbled while trying to create something and then got caught in the air with the ball.

Memphis guard Tyus Jones stole it and Desmond Bane made two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to provide the final five-point edge.

Everything looked fine for the Lakers after Russell Westbrook’s layup gave them a 92-87 lead with 8:12 to play. Then they were stuck on 92 points for one minute … two minutes … three minutes … four minutes … you get the point.

James finally broke the Lakers’ dry spell with a driving lay-up to bring them within 99-94.

Meanwhile, Ja Morant was drilling three-pointers at the other end for Memphis. The third-year guard finished with 41 points after a quiet first half. It was the second time he passed the 40-point mark in three games against the Lakers this season.

“We let him get into a rhythm,” Fizdale said, bemoaning the many lay-ups and trips to the free-throw line the Lakers bestowed upon him.

Said James: “Ja was spectacular, obviously, once again versus us. We lost a game that we could have won ...”

Among the head-scratching losses the Lakers suffered this season was a surprising 108-95 defeat against Memphis three weeks ago. The Grizzlies won without Morant and Dillon Brooks that night as the Lakers scored only 42 second-half points.

There were shades of that Wednesday. Another great effort by the ageless James but also another late-game fade by the Lakers.