Lakers' Anthony Davis Calls Matchup Against Thunder 'Must-Win' Ahead of Saturday

The Los Angeles Lakers lost a matchup to the No. 1 Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. They were without LeBron James in the loss. This pushed them to the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference.

The Oklahoma City Thunder next host the Lakers as they took down the Los Angeles Clippers, snapping their nine-game winning streak. The Thunder is the No. 2 team in the Western Conference and has a half-a-game lead over the Denver Nuggets, who are just behind them.

While the Thunder look to extend its winning streak to four games on Saturday, the Lakers are trying to avoid a fifth straight loss. This game holds weight in both directions for different reasons, and the Lakers are treating the trip to Oklahoma City as a "must-win" game, according to Anthony Davis.

The Lakers have struggled on the road, hoisting a 5-11 record when traveling. This bodes well for the Thunder, who is 10-4 in home games. After the atmosphere the Thunder had in its win Thursday, home-court advantage will help them plenty in this one.

The two teams have matchup up once this season, as the Thunder routed the Lakers 133-110 late in November, and both Davis and James were active in that game.

Standing at 18-8 on the season and riding a three-game winning streak, this certainly will be a tough "must-win" game for the Lakers. After Saturday, the two teams won't meet up until mid-January.

Where the Thunder is at early in this season, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Thunder open as favorites. One thing that could impact the spread, though, is the injury report. If Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams are out with ankle injuries, things could look a bit different.

Still, it will be interesting to see what type of atmosphere the Thunder has on Saturday and how much energy the Lakers have to match it.

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