Anthony Davis has blunt message for struggling Lakers

“We control our own destiny. We have to start playing with a sense of desperation,” he said. “Even though we are in the playoffs as of right now, we’re not that far up from being in the play-in game. So we gotta play with a sense of desperation.”

As far as Davis is concerned, there is no longer any margin for error.

“We’ve got to keep fighting,” he continued. “I think we’ve got like 12 games before the playoffs, so these last 12 are going to be crucial for us, so we’ve got to be able to get some wins.

“Orlando and D.C. are must-wins for us, for sure.”

Earlier this week, Dennis Schroder admitted that the Lakers were having some very real chemistry issues that needed to be sorted out, and it’s showing in the on-the-court product.

The defending champs definitely still have time to right the ship. LeBron James’ return at some point in the next week or so will certainly help with that.

However, based on how they’ve been playing over the last month, it’s hard to see how the Lakers repeat this year barring some major changes in both attitude and play.