The Los Angeles Lakers needed LeBron James to drop 40 points to end their four-game skid and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. After the game, James himself didn't hide the fact that they are desperate for a win.

Los Angeles has been the butt of jokes ever since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament. After all, in the next six games that followed their “championship,” they went 1-5–even losing to struggling teams likes the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls. Heading to the showdown with the Thunder, the Lakers' only win in that six-game span was against the San Antonio franchise (which came in the first of their two meetings), and they were on a four-game slide.

A loss on Saturday would have put the Lakers at an even 15-15 at the season. Fortunately, that's not the case. LeBron did a lot of heavy lifting to make sure it doesn't happen, though, finishing the game with a 40-piece along with seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. King James was also a perfect 5-of-5 from deep and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe as the Purple and Gold took the 129-120 victory.

In his postgame interview, James noted that he knew he had to play his best game and be desperate since they really need the win.

“This is one of the first must-win games of the season for [the Lakers]… We were desperate for a win tonight. Desperate times calls for desperate measures,” James said, via Spectrum SportsNet.

LeBron James sure played with a sense of urgency, and without him, the Lakers would have probably collapsed. They led by as much as 26 points in the game and were up by 16 entering the final quarter, but the Thunder were able to claw their way back and found themselves behind by just nine points with seven minutes left on the clock to play.

Of course it was James who made sure the Thunder wouldn't be able to pull off a come-from-behind victory, dropping 15 of his scoring output in the fourth quarter.

It might be hard for James to sustain that level of play and drop 40 on a nightly basis, but he certainly showed everyone that when the Lakers need someone to step up, he can respond to the call.