AD: Lakers in 'must-win' situation vs. Thunder

Anthony Davis is approaching the Los Angeles Lakers' next contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a sense of desperation after his team's losing streak was extended to four games.

"It's the NBA season. There's going to be ups, there's going to be downs. Right now we're in that down period," Davis told reporters, including ESPN's Dave McMenamin, following Thursday's 118-111 defeat to the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves. "We just got to continue to fight and continue to play hard. Play with some effort, some energy, and we're treating Saturday as a must-win."

The Lakers have dropped five of six games since winning the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament, including a 14-point defeat to the cellar-dwelling San Antonio Spurs.

Opponents are scoring 121.8 points per game on 49.4% shooting - including a 43.7% mark from downtown - during that span.

Health has played a factor. Davis, LeBron James, D'Angelo Russell, and Cam Reddish have each missed at least one game during the club's slump. Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent are also slowly working themselves back into the rotation after missing most of the campaign due to injury.

Head coach Darvin Ham is having trouble settling on a consistent rotation with players in and out of the lineup, but Davis refuses to use that as an excuse for the team's results.

"We got to still buckle down and find ways to get wins," Davis said. "So after 30 (games), I think it's still tough to assess, but we know what we can be.

"We've shown what we can be. And we've shown that if we don't do the things we need to do to be successful, then we're going to continue to be on this side of our record, which is losing."

Los Angeles sits 10th in the West with a 15-14 record, just one game ahead of the Golden State Warriors for the final play-in tournament spot.