On Tuesday, we published a poll asking which of the NBA’s four remaining undefeated teams would be the last to lose. The Nuggets received nearly 40% of the vote, making them the top choice, then promptly lost their first game about 12 hours later.
Today, we’ll shift our focus to the NBA’s three winless teams and see if we have more success forecasting their short-term futures. After eight days, there are three teams around the league that have yet to win a game. The Pelicans and Kings each have 0-4 records while the Pacers are 0-3.
The Pelicans were a popular dark horse playoff pick during the preseason, but they’ve been hit with injuries early on this year — they’re playing without star rookie Zion Williamson, and key veterans Jrue Holiday and Derrick Favors have missed time as well. Still, it’s not as if they’ve been blown off the floor in the first week. Despite a pretty tough schedule, New Orleans hasn’t lost by more than 11 points.
The same can’t be said of the Kings, who have been disastrous on the road so far, losing by 29 points in Phoenix and 32 in Utah. They’ve also dropped home games to the Blazers and Nuggets, digging an early hole for themselves as they look to improve upon last year’s 39-43 record and compete for a postseason spot.
De’Aaron Fox (.392 FG%), Buddy Hield (.351), and Bogdan Bogdanovic (.275) haven’t been making shots so far, and the team has missed Marvin Bagley III, who suffered a thumb fracture on opening night. The Kings have too much talent to be this bad, but so far they have the NBA’s worst net rating by a substantial margin, ranking in the bottom five on both offense and defense.
The Pacers, meanwhile, are trying to adjust to having four new players in their starting lineup and are without star guard Victor Oladipo. They can’t blame their schedule for their slow start, as they’ve dropped two games to a Pistons squad without Blake Griffin and one to the Cavaliers. Indiana also hasn’t shown yet that it has the firepower necessary to fight back from a defect, ranking 29th in the NBA in pace and dead last in made three-pointers per game.
These three teams have the following games on tap as they look to get in the win column:
- Pelicans: vs. Den (10/31), @ OKC (11/2), @ Bkn (11/4), vs. Tor (11/8), @ Cha (11/9)
- Kings: vs. Cha (10/30), vs. Utah (11/1), @ NYK (11/3), @ Tor (11/6), @ Atl (11/8)
- Pacers: @ Bkn (10/30), vs. Cle (11/1), vs. Chi (11/3), @ Cha (11/5), vs. Wsh (11/6)
New Orleans probably has the most challenging short-term schedule, and would become this season’s last winless team by default if Sacramento and Indiana both win tonight. But the Pels have arguably looked the best of the three teams so far, and Holiday and Favors appear close to returning.
What do you think? Which of the NBA’s three winless teams will be the last to earn a victory?
Vote in our poll, then head to comment section below to weigh in!
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Pacers have had some really close losses, and played most of their games on the road. I see them winning in their next two games.
Kings should be able to beat a terrible Hornets team tonight.
Pelicans haven’t played all that poorly, but since I see them losing to Denver, that makes them my pick to go the longest… though I think they should give the Thunder a good run.
Pacers win tonight or the 1st.
Kings win tonight.
Pelicans win on the 2nd.
I agree with your thoughts on the Pacers. The.y could easily win 3 of their next 5.
On the other hand, I’m not sure it’s a slam dunk that the Kings beat the Hornets tonight. That game easily could go either way.
I think the Kings go the longest without a win because the Pelicans get a great shot against OKC.
Goes to show you how important ad was to pelicans, went from 8/9 seed close to playoff contention to no wins. Outside of brandon ingram (who is still a passable defender) they have no one. Lonzo has also shown little development in year 3.
Yeah, no. New Orleans has been in every game, one of their best young players is hurt, and they play in the toughest conference. I also seem to remember AD mailing it in most nights his last year in New Orleans.