LOS ANGELES – The unmistakable sound of disapproval has been building over the past few weeks, even though Lakers home games haven’t been selling out the way they used to.

On Sunday night, they reached a crescendo: Lakers fans booing their own team.

The third quarter saw the Lakers’ disastrous season slide to its lowest point yet, getting pounded by the New Orleans Pelicans – one of the teams chasing them in the Western Conference standings – by 19 points in the frame. Between turnstile defense, turnovers flying all over the court, and getting beaten up and down the floor by their energized guests, the Lakers were outplayed in all categories.

In response to the subpar effort, more than a handful of the 17,536 spectators filed out of their seats and toward the exits, including team owner and governor Jeanie Buss who left her spot with a few minutes remaining in the fateful third.

The 123-95 loss to the Pelicans (25-36) mattered because the Lakers (27-33) have now lost 9 of their last 12 games and are now just 2.5 games from missing the NBA’s play-in tournament altogether. But within it, it was evident that some kind of spark, some sense of pride had been extinguished for a team quickly spiraling out to oblivion.

“When it doesn’t go well, it’s natural to get deflated at times,” said a contemplative Frank Vogel, tapping a pencil while grimly surveying the stat sheet. “Flush it. Put this one behind us.”

Despite multiple pledges that they were seeking a post All-Star push, the Lakers started out again in sluggish fashion and only got worse. Nothing quite spelled out the lack of focus and effort like their 22 turnovers compared to just 15 team assists (seven of those assists came in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach).

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, the team’s two max-level players, were the main culprits of that ignominous stat, with each star tallying seven turnovers. While James managed to lead the Lakers in scoring (32 points), Westbrook struggled to make other kinds of impact, taking nearly 43 minutes to record his first assist in garbage time, and shooting 5 for 15 from the floor for 16 points.

The Lakers’ effort was disheveled early: They fought back early in the second half, but their 16 first-half turnovers gave New Orleans an edge. Behind the shooting of recent trade acquisition C.J. McCollum (22 points) and 19 points and 8 assists from former Laker Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans lead 51-40 at the half.

It’s been typical recently for the Lakers to cede a double-digit lead before finally triggering a comeback effort. But out of the locker room, they instead crashed. New Orleans quickly racked up 16 points in the first five minutes of the second half, on the way to a 44-25 blowout in the third quarter alone.

Vogel began searching for answers with his substitutions, but nothing stemmed the tide. After checking in for the first time in six games, DeAndre Jordan attempted a full-court outlet pass that landed well into the courtside seats – a lowlight that was comical, but represented how far the Lakers have fallen:

They’ve devolved into the NBA’s laughingstock.

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James eventually turned on some scoring heat, but after the game was already well out of hand. The Pelicans led by as much as 32. The Lakers shot just 41.7 percent from the floor as a team, including 7 for 34 on threes.

The options for a sudden improvement seem bleak. Anthony Davis was one of the courtside spectators, wearing a black boot on his right foot that is expected to take a month or more to heal. The Lakers have lost the two games since he was hurt, making them just 7-12 in the last 19 games he’s missed.

“We’re ice cold right now,” Vogel said, stating the obvious.

What’s less clear is what it will take for the Lakers to warm things up again.