PLAYA VISTA – In the aftermath of the Clippers’ disappointing, lopsided loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, Marreese Speights was asked about the Clippers “losing their spirit” – a phrase Doc Rivers repeated in his postgame interview.

“That’s the scouting report when you play against the Clippers,” Speights said. “It’s always been, especially with the Warriors, you play against the Clippers, you hit them a couple of times, and their spirit is going to be down. That’s what happened, so we’ve just got to find a way to get over that hump.”

Later, he shared his plan for how to accomplish that.

“First we need to start really just leaving the refs alone,” Speights said. “Guys just got to sacrifice, do some other things than scoring, do some other things than your personal goals. Just try something new. They’ve been doing it here for four or five years and it hasn’t been working, so it’s time to try something new.”

If the man they call “Mo Buckets” was speaking his mind Wednesday, on Thursday, he had “Mo Explainin’” to do.

“It’s just sometimes, I should have just said it in different kind of ways,” Speights said. “I’m on the team, man. I’m biased to this team. Every time I step on that court, I’m going to play hard for Doc, for this city, for this team. I’m not trying to call nobody out. The will to win … you just want to win. You just want to do it the right way. You want to do it for a great coach like Doc and the city of L.A.

“That’s something that maybe I should have said a little different. I’m not calling nobody out.”

Rivers, who said he didn’t read Speights’ comments but “heard” about them, disagreed with two of Speights’ assessments.

“The officiating thing, I don’t think, is our issue. I will say that,” Rivers said. “… (If that were the problem) then, Golden State will be struggling. They’ve been No. 2 the last years in techs, too. I think we need to point fingers in another direction than that.”

And the Clippers’ selflessness isn’t that direction.

“That’s the other thing I didn’t like,” Rivers said. “… I don’t think we have an agenda team. I think we’ve proven that.”

Clippers guard J.J. Redick said he saw Speights’ comments being shared via screen shot on social media.

“I have no problem with what he said,” Redick said.

Redick had his own thoughts with what’s wrong with the Clippers, who have lost five times since Thanksgiving.

“The big takeaway for me after the game last night was just like, we’ve got to play with some joy,” Redick said. “Basketball’s meant to be fun. We’re serious, you’ve got to be prepared, you’ve got to follow the game plan and all that, but I just think we’re better when we play with joy.

“The Warriors certainly do that on a nightly basis. I’m not going to continue to compare the two teams, but they’re sort of the standard right now, along with the Spurs and the Cavs. Those are the teams that have won the last three championships. Those teams play with joy.”

Speights said he thinks the Clippers are on the path to becoming a great team, and he didn’t want his comments to suggest otherwise.

“You’re going to go through ups and you’re going to go through downs. Like I said, we’re going through a transition of becoming a different team, be pioneers of the NBA, understanding we’re going to get a lot of team’s best – really just stop overthinking a little bit,” he said. “Like the other day, we had a great practice and it really didn’t carry over to the game. That started off something really good because you could see guys trying to get better, wanting to get better. Every time you step on this practice court, a winning mentality comes out. And it’s going to carry onto the court.

“Like I said, it takes time. It’s a process.”

TOO MUCH PRESSURE?

In Rivers’ multiple viewings of Wednesday’s loss to the Warriors, one thing stuck out more than any other.

“I just didn’t think we played well yesterday, but I thought we wanted to,” he said Thursday. “Watching the tape, we came to the game with good intentions. Sometimes, you want to beat a team so badly that you can’t beat a team. And, that’s what I saw. We put so much pressure on ourselves to win the game that we were in the way of ourselves.”

And, maybe, that’s why the Clippers were so loose with the basketball early in the game.

“I hate turnovers. I despise them,” Rivers said. “And, I think we’re turning the ball over too much as a group, and we have to fix that.”

Contact the writer: dwoike@scng.com