Lakers' Anthony Davis Tabs Game vs. Thunder 'Must Win' amid 4-game Losing Streak

It's not very often a team with 17 championships faces a must-win in December, but that is the approach Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis is taking for Saturday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"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 said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "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."

His comments came after Los Angeles' fourth consecutive loss, which came Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

LeBron James was sidelined thanks to an ankle injury, and Davis did what he could with 31 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks. However, all five Timberwolves starters scored at least 14 points with Anthony Edwards (27 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals) leading the way.

Los Angeles fell to 15-14 as a result, a record that is all the more startling when considering it was 7-0 during the inaugural in-season tournament championship run that ended with a victory over the Indiana Pacers in Las Vegas.

A glass-half-full mindset would suggest the Purple and Gold demonstrated they can flip the switch when needed during that in-season tournament, but it is a risky approach in a loaded Western Conference.

They hold the No. 10 seed in the current standings, and Davis' comments suggest there will be more urgency as they attempt to turn things around following an inconsistent start to the season.