LOS ANGELES — There were obvious flashbacks to last season when the Lakers rallied from a 27-point deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks by three back in February.

Another comeback from a 20-something deficit almost happened again Wednesday, but the painfully key word for the Lakers was, of course, “almost.”

LeBron James missed a three-point attempt from the left corner as time expired and Dallas escaped with a 104-101 victory at Crypto.com Arena.

The Lakers trailed by 20 going into the fourth quarter but rallied amid an influx of James and Austin Reaves production.

James scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, including a tip-in off Reaves’ miss to give the Lakers an implausible 101-99 lead with 1:16 to play.

“I love the fourth quarter, obviously. I just hate going into that situation what we were down,” James said. “It’s not ideal.”

But then came three plays James couldn’t convert.

He settled for a three-point shot and missed it with much smaller ex-teammate Kyrie Irving guarding him.

Irving made a three at the other end, putting pressure on the Lakers, who now trailed by one with 20.8 seconds left.

James tried to feed Anthony Davis by the basket, but Richaun Holmes, who was in front of Davis, stole the ball after Luka Doncic deflected it behind Davis, with 3.2 seconds left.

“Left it a little short,” James said before using a football analogy. “The right read, just, as the quarterback, left it short. I didn’t lead my receiver, and I got picked off.”

The Lakers (9-7) still had a chance to tie the score after Irving made two free throws to put Dallas up three. James, though, was short on his buzzer-beating three-point shot while drifting to his left.

“We had a shot to win the game,” Davis said. “We got back in it with our defense in the fourth quarter and made some big-time shots.”

There weren’t enough big-time shots in the first three quarters.

The fast start the Lakers employed the previous night in a breezy victory over Utah didn’t materialize again Wednesday as they trailed at halftime, 62-46.

It only worsened from there, the Lakers down after three quarters, 91-71.

Then something funny happened. Dallas missed its first 11 shots in the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks finally made a basket when Doncic banked in a five-foot fadeaway with 4:16 left to play to put Dallas ahead by five.

Doncic (30 points) and Irving (28 points) combined to score more than half the Mavericks’ points.

Through three quarters, Dallas (10-5) proved it had the NBA’s second-best offense. But the Lakers couldn’t do the same and puncture the Mavericks’ 25th-ranked defense until too late.

“It’s tough,” Lakers Coach Darvin Ham said. “To put yourself behind the eight-ball like that over the first three quarters, we could’ve easily folded the tent, especially after having played the night before. But, like I told my guys, we don’t believe in moral victories around here.”

Davis was quiet throughout the night, finishing with only 10 points in 36 minutes. He had one shot in the fourth quarter, missing a 20-footer with 7:19 to play.

Reaves was quiet as well until scoring nine points in the fourth quarter to give him 17 for the game.

Perhaps James said it best: “Just got to be better in the first 36.”