EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers fans might have felt like they received an early Christmas present under the tree when Steve Nash returned from his left leg injury over the weekend, but Nash isn't feeling warm and fuzzy about his team's predicament.

"Hopefully, we can continue to win," Nash said after practice Monday on the eve of the Lakers' Christmas Day showdown with the New York Knicks. "We've won four in a row and we can keep this going and put ourselves back in contention, but we should be a desperate team right now."

The Lakers' last loss happened to come against the Knicks on Dec. 13 at Madison Square Garden, but they were missing Nash and also didn't have Pau Gasol in the lineup, as the four-time All-Star was in the midst of sitting eight games because of knee tendinitis.

Even with their season-high four-game winning streak, the Lakers are still just 13-14 and have just the 11th-best record in the Western Conference, putting a team with championship aspirations on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

"I think we realize the position we're in," Nash said. "We can't drop games. We got to go out there and try to win every single game and go for wins instead of trying to adjust and figure out what we're doing. You got to win games and figure it out afterwards what transition this team needs."

Nash's sense of urgency was in step with the message being spread by his longtime coach, Mike D'Antoni.