LOS ANGELES — LeBron James and his Lakers teammates were overcome with disbelief. They rushed to the monitor on the scorer’s table in Minnesota to see the play in dispute.

They pleaded and pointed at the zoomed-in image of the toe of James’ right sneaker and the blue 3-point line it might or might not have touched.

James was sure he was behind it. Replay officials were not.

The shot, which would’ve tied the score and probably forced overtime, was ruled a 2. They lost.

On Dec. 30 in Minnesota, the Lakers felt they were an inch away from a win, so close to some salvation after a brutal month.

“Stevie Wonder can see that, champ,” James said after the loss. “Over there in the replay center or whatever, somebody over there eating a ham sandwich, or somebody made the call.”

With the Lakers’ season over, a frame-by-frame examination of what happened isn’t necessary.

“Your eyes will tell you,” said one Lakers insider not authorized to publicly discuss team operations.

There was no need to enlarge or enhance, no reason to squint. The Lakers were good, maybe even close to better than that.

Yet they weren’t championship good and maybe not even contender good, a precious season gone with a first-round playoff exit and changes likely on the way.

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