Anthony Davis was not pleased after the Los Angeles Lakers finished their five-game road trip with a discouraging 131-126 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on Saturday night.

The Lakers followed up a high-octane, 72-point first-half performance by surrendering 42 points in the third quarter and were outscored 28-20 in the final frame. The Lakers (25-28) had a golden opportunity to tie the Pelicans (26-27) in the Western Conference standings, but will instead fly home with a sour taste in their mouths. New Orleans had lost 10 games in a row.

Davis posted 34 points on 13-of-25 shooting and 14 rebounds in 38 minutes but — once again — struggled to maintain his activity level as the game wore on, including 1-of-5 in the fourth quarter. Granted, he's only played five games since missing nearly six weeks with a foot injury, but late-game disappearing acts were a troubling trend for AD early in the season.

“All these games matter to us,” said AD. “The sense of urgency is at an all-time high. It has to happen now. Guys know that.”

Darvin Ham — who deserves criticism for sticking with Patrick Beverley on Brandon Ingram in crunch-time (which did not work at all), instead of going with, say, Rui Hachimura — blasted the Lakers' for their second-half effort and echoed AD's words.

“Their push was all energy. That third quarter, we just stopped guarding. When you play a really good 24 minutes … you gotta be able to remember what you did well … and come out with a purpose and a sense of urgency. Obviously, we weren't able to do that.”

Fortunately, “effort” has not typically been a topic of postgame consternation this season, as it was throughout 2021-22. For the most part, Ham's squad has been one of the hardest-playing groups in the league on a nightly basis, and never mail in a game for four quarters. Yet, their still being plagued by late-game miscues, poor transition defense, and inconsistent rebounding.

“28 games left,” an admittedly-fatigued LeBron lamented. “We’re still doing the same stuff over and over.”

The Lakers will have a chance to bounce back on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena against the Oklahoma City Thunder before a showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. LeBron James, who had 27/9/6 in NOLA but a relatively substandard two-way performance, is 36 points shy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record.

By then, who knows what the Lakers roster will look like. AD's “sense of urgency” comment was regarding the team's on-court performance vs. the Pelicans, but it could certainly apply to the front office's approach to the Feb. 9 trade deadline. Beforehand, Ham said the Lakers “gotta keep pushing, keep grinding in the midst of this hoopla.”

Davis rejected the idea that trade rumors are weighing on the team.

“The only thing that we're thinking about is the sense of urgency to climb up in the rankings.”

If anybody is focused on the trade deadline instead of basketball, “they gotta flush it,” AD added. “Think about it at home.”

LeBron and Russell Westbrook also addressed the percolating trade speculation centered on the Lakers' interest in Kyrie Irving.

“I don't speak for our front office,' said LeBron when asked if Kyrie could make the Lakers a contender. “My mindset is, whatever lineup or whatever group we have, is to make sure we prepare ourselves…to win.

Obviously, that's a … ‘duh' question when you talk about a player like that.”

Needless to say, it could be a historically eventful week for the Los Angeles Lakers.