CLEVELAND — One of many possible ingredients for coach Michael Malone’s recipe to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers involved a mix of containing superstar LeBron James and getting off to a quick start.

Neither happened Monday night, and Malone let his Nuggets know it.

“You can sum it up in one word — embarrassing,” Malone said. “I thought in the second half we quit. I haven’t seen that from our team for most of the year. I was very disappointed.”

A slow start combined with an incredible display by James led to Denver’s 124-91 loss to the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

This was a clear sign of the final game of Denver’s five-game road trip. Denver’s lethargic play resulted in 38 first-quarter points for the Cavaliers and a deficit so huge, the Nuggets wilted after recovering and getting a brief lead.

“I’m going to chalk it up as we got our (butts) kicked and I’m not going to use any excuses for it,” Malone said. “I haven’t used any excuses all year long. Everyone goes on the road. Everyone has young players. Tonight we did not answer the call.”

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Will Barton scored 18 of his 27 points in a second-quarter rally for the Nuggets.

James had 33 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his second triple-double of the season.

“LeBron was a beast,” said Denver’s Darrell Arthur. “He got other players involved. They killed us in transition. They killed us in every aspect of the game.”

Denver’s 17 turnovers and lack of defense irritated Malone.

“Anytime you have 17 turnovers for 33 points (allowed), you’re going to make it nearly impossible to beat a good team on their court,” the coach said. “Anytime you allow an opposing team 15-of-31 (shooting) from the 3-point line, it’s going to make it nearly impossible.”

The Cavaliers shot 60 percent from the field and outscored the Nuggets 38-23 in the first quarter. The Nuggets were dominated on the boards 15-5 and trailed as much as 19 points.

James had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first quarter.

But things changed in the second quarter.

Enter Barton.

The Nuggets trailed by 15 points early in the second quarter, but Barton willed his team back. Barton’s driving layup sparked a 17-0 run that was capped by his 3-pointer and free throw for a 43-41 lead with 5:06 left in the first half.

“The second group was able to come in the second quarter and make a great comeback and get us back into the game,” Malone said.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, their lead didn’t last long. They were slow to respond on defense as layups by the Cavaliers became the norm.

A trey followed by Timofey Mozgov’s dunk extended the Nuggets’ deficit to 10 points, and they trailed by eight at halftime.

Just when it seemed as if the Nuggets were ready to kick into another gear when they trailed by six points early in the third quarter, the Cavaliers managed to maintain control and led by 19 late in that quarter.

“It was just another night where our starters didn’t get us off to a good start,” Malone said. “We built ourselves a hole.

“We fought like (heck) to get back in it. And when a little adversity hit in the second half, we went south. And that was disappointing.”