LOS ANGELES — It’s been a great run for the Lakers, who were stranded in 11th place in the Western Conference with three weeks left in the regular season.

History would say it’s about to end.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Lakers with a strong fourth quarter run, 119-108, and grabbed a historically insurmountable 3-0 lead Saturday in the Western Conference finals.

No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series, going 0-149 in the process.

Guard Jamal Murray scored 30 points in the first half to push the Nuggets to a slim halftime edge and center Nikola Jokic was Denver’s closer with 15 points in the fourth quarter to put the Lakers away at Crypto.com Arena.

Game 4 is Monday, also in LA.

“Got to get one. One at a time. Just focus on Game 4 and that’s all you can really think about,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “It’s a one-game series for us. Every game counts, obviously.”

The Lakers upset the mouthy Memphis Grizzlies in the first round and knocked out the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the West semifinals, but Denver is a different beast.

The Nuggets took over first place in the West on Dec. 20 and never relinquished it. They are now 11-3 in the playoffs thanks to the best post-season duo at this point.

Murray’s momentum carried over from his 37-point outburst in Game 3, which included 23 in the fourth quarter. He started out strong in Game 4, pumping in 17 points in the first quarter and taking 30 into the locker room at halftime.

Oddly, Jokic was scoreless in the first quarter and had only five points at the half. His time would come later.

The two-time NBA MVP keyed a 13-0 fourth-quarter run to extinguish a short-lived Lakers lead and put the game out of reach. Jokic finished with 24 points, along with six rebounds and eight assists while fighting foul trouble.

“They’ve been at the top of the food chain for a reason,” Lakers Coach Darvin Ham said. “They have a plethora of players that can hurt you, as was on display tonight.”

Anthony Davis bounced back from a subpar Game 3 to score 28 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

James, for his part, scored 23 points and broke out of a shooting slump. He was 0 for 13 from the three-point line this series before hitting two in a row at the end of the third quarter as the Lakers trailed by only two.

The Lakers hadn’t lost three games in a row since early February.

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell continued to struggle with his scoring touch, missing seven of eight shots and finishing with three points. He is shooting 29.6% in this series and averaging only seven points.

“Just make them,” Russell succinctly told reporters when asked about his slump. “Take ’em, make ‘em.”

The Lakers have never won a Game 4 when trailing 3-0 in a series. They are officially 0-8 in such situations.

Odd as it may sound, the Lakers aren't necessarily playing like a losing team. It’s just the Nuggets are a better team.

“It’s tough to sustain a run when they continue to fight back, punch back,” Russell said. “They’re a force. Tough for us to stop them. They’re a well-oiled machine.”