Anthony Davis calls for urgency after Lakers' 4th straight loss - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — The Los Angeles Lakers might only be approaching Game No. 30 of 82 on the schedule, but after Thursday night's 118-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves extended their losing streak to four games, Anthony Davis called for more urgency.

«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 after L.A. fell to 1-5 since winning the in-season tournament. «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.»

Davis said that he expects L.A. to be fully healthy for its next game Saturday, on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder, after LeBron James (left ankle) and Gabe Vincent (left knee) both sat out in Minnesota.

It's perhaps premature to suggest a December game is a «must win» when the postseason doesn't begin until April. However, as shaky as the Lakers have looked the last couple of weeks, it was just earlier this month when L.A. finished off a 7-0 run through the in-season tournament and won the inaugural championship in Las Vegas, showing what the team is capable of when it plays with a purpose.

L.A. looked better on Thursday in Minnesota than it did in Wednesday's 124-108 road loss to the Chicago Bulls, with Davis (31 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks) leading the way and four other players scoring in double digits. But some familiar problem areas resurfaced.

While the Lakers managed to keep things close in the early going — trailing 36-32 heading into the second quarter after being outscored by a combined 41 points in the first quarter in their previous three losses — turnovers hurt them once again, as they committed five of their 18 for the game in