LOS ANGELES – Having not started a season 0-4 since his rookie campaign in 2003–04, LeBron James admitted that he had to make adjustments to his game to help the Los Angeles Lakers get back on track.

Their miserable start to the National Basketball Association (NBA) campaign continued on Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets as the winless 17-time former champions crashed to a fourth straight loss.

Anthony Davis had 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds but it was another frustrating night for the Lakers, who reached half-time tied at 54-54 before being outscored 32-17 in a lopsided third quarter in Denver.

Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) James committed a game-high eight turnovers, three less than the Nuggets team combined, in a performance that also featured 19 points on eight from 21 shooting, nine assists and seven rebounds.

ESPN quoted the 37-year-old as saying: “I wasn’t aggressive enough in a lot of my turnovers. I was coming off a lot of screens, looking to pass, get guys involved and I wasn’t aggressive enough...

“That’s an easy fix for me. I’ll be much better on Friday with that. I’ve done it over and over the course of my career. That’s an easy fix. I’m not worried about that.”

Whether the Lakers will be much better by the time they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, though, is unclear.

Their 0-4 start to the season matches their beginning to the 2015-16 campaign, when the team would go on to post the worst season in franchise history, finishing with a 17-65 record.

It is only the fourth time in franchise history that the Lakers have started a season with an 0-4 record.

“Well, I think we were shooting 20 per cent, and today we shot 26 per cent,” said Lakers guard Patrick Beverley. “So we got better.”

The Lakers entered the game as the poorest-shooting squad in the league. Against the Nuggets, they shot 44.4 per cent from the field.

“We’re four games in, it sucks to lose, but having 78 games left, there’s plenty of time for us to right the ship and it starts now,” said Lakers coach Darvin Ham. “It starts yesterday.”

Davis added: “Not really about any other team right now, scouts or schemes - just going out there and doing it for 48 minutes to get a win.”

The Lakers played without Russell Westbrook, who was inactive due to a left hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., who missed most of last season after having back surgery, sat out for lumbar management.

But Nikola Jokic starred for the Nuggets with a game-high 31 points to go with his 13 rebounds.

Bruce Brown bagged 18 points, Jamal Murray scored 13 points and Jeff Green scored 10 for the Nuggets (3-2). Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also had 13 points before spraining his left ankle on a drive late in the third quarter.

Said reigning MVP Jokic: ‘’LeBron is the best player on the planet. I like to compete with the best.’‘

His coach Michael Malone said he gave the Serb centre an early pep talk, which appeared to have worked a treat.

He said: “‘I just walked over to him in the huddle, gave him a big hug and said, `Hey, man, big picture. I believe in you. I love you. I know who you are, and I know where you’re going to be at some point.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Giannis Antetokounmpo produced his second straight 40-point performance as the Milwaukee Bucks maintained their unbeaten start to the NBA season with a 110-99 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Antetokounmpo single-handedly hauled Milwaukee back into an absorbing clash at Fiserv Forum, scoring 17 points in a third-quarter rally which turned a 12-point half-time deficit into a two-point lead.

The Greek star added 17 more points in the fourth quarter to finish with 43 in total as the Bucks pulled clear to wrap up the win and improve to 3-0.

Former NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo scored 44 points in his last outing against the Houston Rockets on Saturday and has averaged 36 points per game this season.

“That was vintage Giannis,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He’s had a lot of great performances, but that second half he did everything, he was phenomenal.

“We had a poor second quarter and he came out with a force and a determination to put us in the right place. It’s hard to put into words how good he was in the second half.”

Nash ejected

Brooklyn, meanwhile, saw head coach Steve Nash ejected late in the third quarter after an uncharacteristic outburst from the Canadian Hall of Famer.

Nash erupted after officials failed to call a foul on Antetokounmpo when the Bucks star flattened Brooklyn’s Patty Mills.

An incandescent Nash needed to be hustled away from the confrontation by Nets players and coaching staff before heading back to the locker room.

“I was just standing up for our guys,” Nash said.

“I thought Patty took a forearm to the throat from Giannis right in front of the ref and I didn’t think that was fair... What happened, happened. I said my piece on the court and that’s really all there is to it.”

Nash’s ejection came at a time when momentum had swung back towards Milwaukee, who recovered after being pummelled 35-18 in the second quarter to outscore Brooklyn 35-21 in the third.

Brooklyn led by four points when Nash was ejected but Antetokounmpo took over to lead the Bucks to a deserved win.

Kevin Durant led the Nets scoring with 33 points while Kyrie Irving added 27 and Royce O’Neale 12. Ben Simmons finished with four points.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, in-form Damian Lillard scored 22 points but hobbled off with a right calf strain as the Portland Trail Blazers suffered their first loss of the season with a 119-98 defeat by the Miami Heat in Oregon.

In other games, Gary Trent Jr. scored 27 points as the Toronto Raptors handed the Philadelphia 76ers their fourth defeat of the season.

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points each for the Sixers, but the visitors were undone by a balanced offensive effort from home side Toronto, who had six players in double figures.

Pascal Siakam had 20 points with 13 assists and five rebounds as the Raptors led virtually from start to finish to win 119-109.

The Sixers fell to 1-4 with the defeat.

In Detroit, Trae Young poured in 35 points for visiting Atlanta as the Hawks downed the Pistons 118-113.

In Cleveland, Orlando’s No.1 draft pick Paolo Banchero excelled with 29 points but could not stop the Magic slipping to a 103-92 defeat by the Cavaliers. AFP, REUTERS