Not even LeBron James could help the Lakers on Sunday.

The Phoenix Suns rolled over them in a big way, 140-111, using a surreal 48-point first quarter to hand the Lakers a 10th consecutive road loss.

James scored his points (31) and reached a milestone with his 10,000th career assist in the second quarter on Carmelo Anthony’s 3-pointer. James is the only player in NBA history with at least 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists.

But the Lakers had no answer for a Suns offense that relentlessly attacked at the basket and beyond the arc on their home court.

It’s nothing new. Defense has been an issue for the Lakers since the All-Star break.

The first quarter was the killer this time. The 48 points they surrendered were tied for the fourth-most they’d ever allowed in any quarter in their 74-year existence.

Phoenix became the fifth team to ring them up for a 40-point quarter over the last two weeks, joining New Orleans (44), Dallas (41), the Clippers (40) and Golden State (42).

In a related note, the Lakers are 2-7 since the All-Star break.

“It’s unacceptable,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of Sunday’s game. “Our defensive focus wasn’t where it needed to be….Definitely gotta be better than we were tonight.”

Vogel also found fault with a Lakers offense that had poor shot selection and coughed up the ball 12 times in the first half, 18 overall.

“We’re taking terrible shots and we’re turning the ball over,” he said.

The Lakers (29-38) also lost ground in their attempt to maintain ninth place in the Western Conference. They lead New Orleans by only 1.5 games and play the Pelicans twice over the final four weeks over the regular season. The teams appear headed for the play-in game between ninth and 10th place, with home-court advantage still to be determined.

As for Sunday’s game, James continued to score at will, breaking 30 points for the third time in the last four games. He added six assists and did not play in the fourth quarter because the Lakers trailed by 29 when it began.

“There’s no way you can go down 26 points at the end of the first quarter…and expect to make a game of it,” James said. “You can’t dig a hole like that against a team like this.”

Devin Booker scored 30 points for the Suns (54-14), who lead the West by a substantial 7.5-game margin over Memphis. De Andre Ayton dominated down low Sunday with 23 points and 16 rebounds.

In the first quarter alone, the Suns had 17 fastbreak points and outscored the Lakers by 18 from three-point range.

“We had no sense of urgency getting back on the defensive end,” said Lakers guard Malik Monk, who scored 13 points. “We just come out flat too much on the road.”

The Lakers continue a busy month Monday with a home game against Toronto before hitting the road for games against Minnesota, Toronto, Washington and Cleveland.

They’ll try to forget Sunday as quickly as possible.

“Nothing we did tonight was good enough,” Vogel said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.