For whatever reason this team just doesn't switch on against "bad" teams. These are the teams we've lost to this season:
Opponent Total Current Record
Brooklyn Nets 1 31-30
Charlotte Hornets 1 27-31
Dallas Mavericks 1 26-32
Denver Nuggets 1 40-18
Detroit Pistons 1 28-30
Golden State Warriors 1 42-16
Houston Rockets 1 33-25
Indiana Pacers 1 40-20
Los Angeles Clippers 1 33-27
Los Angeles Lakers 1 29-30
Miami Heat 1 26-32
Milwaukee Bucks 2 44-14
New York Knicks 1 11-48
Orlando Magic 2 27-33
Phoenix Suns 1 11-50
Portland Trail Blazers 1 36-23
San Antonio Spurs 1 33-27
Toronto Raptors 1 44-16
Utah Jazz 2 32-16
Too many losses against losing/rebuilding teams there, and I'm counting the Clippers loss in there even though they have a positive record. This is 100% a motivation issue. They CAN play well we've seen it. For whatever reasons we're switching off when we feel the opposition is substandard. Nobody is taking accountability and playing hard. We can always point to career nights - Markannen 33, Lavine 40, Kemba 50 or whatever it was, the Lakers record # of 3s...the bottom line is these nights by these teams tend to happen against us.
I think these guys have mentally checked out in terms of trying to chase the No3 seed. They accept they'll be No4 or 5 come playoff time (shame we couldn't take advantage of Philly losing to Portland tonight) and they probably expect to be able to beat whoever it is they play because "they will be switched on and motivated" during playoffs. If it's Philly at 4 and us at 5, or Indiana at 4 and us at 5 we probably have a better than even money chance of beating them without home court but then in the second round against Mil or Tor its going to be tough.
If we want to get to the finals it's going to be the hard way, and I guess this team and the players are ok with that. They prefer to beat the tougher teams than the easier ones because the easier ones aren't worth their effort maybe.