I think all the nba folks re-evaluate their goals for the season at this point, as many teams come to realize the playoffs or a championship are mathematically impossible. Everybody starts going their own direction: some coaches and gm’s are tanking, some vet players start focusing on staying healthy and padding stats, some younger players look to get out on the floor and prove they belong in the nba, while the rest of the league fights exhaustion as they jockey for places in the playoffs, and the elite teams fine tune on their problem issues.
I think something else happens in the gambling world at the same time, because of the void caused by football season ending. After the Super Bowl is over, and until baseball season/March madness starts, the sharpest gamblers and the sharpest personnel at the books switch more of their focus to nba basketball. The lines get tighter and trickier, at the same time as the games get crazier and more unpredictable because teams/players are all going in their own individual directions. In my personal experience I find myself losing by a point half the time (tighter lines), and being totally way off (in the wrong direction) the other half of the time (tricky lines, players performing unexpectedly good or bad).