If you are what your record says you are, then the Charlotte Hornets are a bad team.

The Hornets leave Charlotte Monday standing 24-31 (5-16 in 2017) after falling 105-99 to Philadelphia at Spectrum Center. They return March 6 against Indiana.

“Be mad at me tonight,” said guard Nic Batum, who guaranteed a win against the 76ers, “but don’t give up on us.”

Unlike previous seasons, Charlotte has plateaued or regressed rather than improved.

“It’s always a number of things, but the most disappointing thing for me—and I’m in charge of this,” coach Steve Clifford said. “A majority of the guys are here largely, because of me. Michael [Jordan’s] great about if I don’t like a guy, then we don’t take him. So these are the guys that I want. I think we should be better than we’ve been playing, and we’ve gotten better. Even in the second year, we weren’t good, but we got better and better. If those guys hadn’t been injured in [2014-15] we would have been a playoff team that year too, and that’s not what’s happening here.”

Point guard Kemba Walker may be heading to the All-Star game in New Orleans this weekend, but his February performance of 15.8 points per game has been anything less than stellar. He didn’t score over 20 points this month until he scored 29 against the 76ers. He averages 22.4 for the season.

“Kemba’s had a [poor] stretch here,” Clifford said. “Tonight he was good again, but you know like over the last eight games, and that’s not his fault. We just can’t win—or it’s difficult without him playing well. I think that’s the first time he has had over 20 [points] in eight games. It’s a number of things.”

Without center Cody Zeller (quad contusion/soreness) the Hornets stand 1-8. Zeller saw 22 minutes against Houston, scoring nine points, tallying four rebounds and one assist, but left the game early. He has not returned since.

In addition to playing without their starting center, Charlotte’s accumulation has skyrocketed over the last few games. They’ve given up 55 points off of turnovers during the last three games. Charlotte has also struggled to make shots, failing to shoot above 43.6 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from beyond the arc during the past three games.

“It’s a combination of things,” Clifford said. “Our defense hasn’t gotten better. It’s Cody’s injury coming at a time when the schedule is tougher.”

Charlotte isn’t playing well and under .500. By definition, doesn’t that make them a bad team? Yes. However, they play in the Eastern Conference, which allows them to stay in the playoff hunt.

“We can’t drop our head,” Batum said. “We can’t stop believing. We can’t quit. We’re two games from the eight [playoff] spot. We’re not 15 games behind. We’re right there.”

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