The 2018-19 Lakers are done. What happens now?

The Clippers beat the Lakers, 113-105, in what felt like an elimination game for LeBron James and his teammates. In defeat, the Lakers lost their tiebreaker against the Clippers, meaning they’d need to outright pass two of the three teams (Clippers, Spurs, Kings) ahead of them to earn a playoff spot. They only have 18 games left to play and trail the No. 8 seed Spurs by 5.5 games.

ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives the Lakers less than a 0.1 percent chance of making the postseason, which is the same odds it gives the Knicks. It’s over.

The Lakers season has seen modest highs and embarrassing lows in what will be remembered by most as a disastrous start to James’ career in LA. He hasn’t missed the postseason since he was 20 years old.

The Lakers’ loss wasn’t an abomination. The team played close for 3.5 quarters before succumbing to the problems that have plagued their entire season: injuries, poor shooting, and an overall lack of supporting talent around James. Brandon Ingram sat from shoulder soreness, Lonzo Ball missed his 17th straight game with an ankle sprain. LA withered without them.

The Lakers made 28 percent of their three-point attempts, 42 percent of their overall shots from the field, and were so short-handed they played G League call-up Alex Caruso five meaningful minutes. Rajon Rondo’s triple-double and James’ line of 27 points, eight rebounds, and six assists weren’t enough, as the rest of the non-Josh Hart roster complements faltered.

Patrick Beverley was a nuisance on the defensive end all night with five steals, and he showed no backing down, either. The Lakers have become easy prey, and those out to get revenge against a weak James-led team have struck with a high success rate.

A switch was never turned in LA.

James said he’d need a lot of convincing to sit the rest of the season out, but it may be realistic and what’s best at this point. It would take a catastrophic collapse from two playoff-contending teams for LA to sneak into the playoffs, and at this point, saving his health for next year is more important.

“That would take a lot of convincing from Luke [Walton] on up,” James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on the prospect of ending his season early. “Unless I’m hurt, I’m not sitting games.”

But he didn’t rule out the possibility entirely. “You kind of look at the rest of the games, and look at the percentages of what’s going on there in the future, and see what makes more sense for not only me but the team itself as well,” James told ESPN.

At that point, resting Ingram and Ball would make sense too, and it’s probably close to being time to pull back on minutes for the veterans on one-year contracts to experiment with the kids deep on the bench. More time for 2018 first-round pick Mo Wagner and Hart, for example, though Hart is also fighting injuries.

This Lakers season is all but mathematically over. It’s hard to grasp just how bad it really turned out.