The Detroit Pistons are close to elimination in the playoffs, potentially becoming the seventh No. 1 seed to lose in the first round. Their struggles in the postseason raise comparisons to the worst No. 1 seeds in NBA history.
Key points
Detroit Pistons on verge of playoff elimination
One loss away from becoming seventh No. 1 seed to lose in first round
The Detroit Pistons were one of the feel-good stories of the 2025-26 NBA season, but whether they could actually make a deep run in the East was a lingering question 18 years after their last playoff series win.
The answer might not be the one Pistons fans were hoping to hear. Detroit is on the verge of elimination against the Orlando Magic, one loss away from becoming the seventh No. 1 seed to lose in their first round.
The Pistons can be proud of their stellar regular season, but their playoff struggles put them among the worst No. 1 seeds in NBA history.
Here's a look at where the Pistons rank since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984.
The Bucks were two years removed from an NBA championship and won 58 games in the regular season in 2022-23, but their playoff performances stands as one of the worst all-time by a No. 1 seed. Milwaukee won just one playoff game, blowing late leads and losing to the Heat in five games.
Q&A
What are the worst No. 1 seeds in NBA history?
The article discusses the ranking of the worst No. 1 seeds since the playoffs expanded in 1984, including the 2026 Detroit Pistons.
How close are the Pistons to being eliminated from the playoffs?
The Pistons are one loss away from elimination, facing the Orlando Magic in the first round.
What year did the Pistons last win a playoff series?
The Pistons last won a playoff series 18 years ago, prior to the 2025-26 NBA season.
Why are the Pistons considered among the worst No. 1 seeds?
Their stellar regular season performance is overshadowed by their playoff struggles, putting them at risk of being eliminated in the first round.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo missed two of those five games, but the Bucks couldn't find a way to stop Jimmy Butler with or without him and looked broken down by the time the playoffs arrived.
The Spurs would lose in the first round as a No. 1 seed a decade later, but Gregg Popovich's 2001 squad might have been the worst top seed under his watch.
While they were winners of 58 games and reached the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs were in a bit of an in-between phase after winning it all in 1999. David Robinson was showing signs of decline and made his final All-Star appearance in 2001, and San Antonio didn't yet have Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili at its disposal.
The result was a very good but at times offensively challenged team that was no match for the Lakers when it mattered. L.A. swept the Spurs in the conference finals, winning the final two games by 39 and 29 points, respectively.
The 2014-15 Hawks have been dubbed by some the worst 60-win team of all-time. Is that fair? Well, every 60-win team has to be pretty great, but Atlanta certainly didn't have the star power that most do.
The Mike Budenholzer-led Hawks instead relied on a solid core of Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague and DeMarre Carroll, which got them to the conference finals after 4-2 series wins over the Nets and Wizards but didn't get them particularly close to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers swept the Hawks, winning Game 4 by 30 points to put an exclamation point on a mismatch despite Atlanta owning the better record.
The Pacers were a fun team during the height of the Paul George era and finished with a better record in 2013-14 than they did a year earlier when they came within one win of the NBA Finals, but something was off about Indiana late in the season.
The Pacers needed a Game 7 win to survive the 38-44 Hawks in the first round and dropped two games against the Wizards in the second round before saving face with a decent showing in a conference finals loss to the Heat.
Roy Hibbert's pronounced playoff struggles left Indiana reeling at times, and George's broken leg the following offseason would bring the Pacers' run of success to a close.
Under Dwane Casey, the Raptors mastered the art of stacking wins in the regular season and losing to LeBron James in the playoffs. With the Cavaliers looking extremely vulnerable and Toronto in possession of the No. 1 seed, the hope for the Raptors was that 2018 would finally be the year they get over the hump. Instead, James effectively carried Cleveland himself to a second-round sweep, with the Raptors losing Game 4 by 35 points.
Casey was fired four days later, and the Raptors shook up their roster by trading DeMar DeRozan and more for Kawhi Leonard. Those two moves helped Toronto win a championship one year later.
When fans joke about Joel Embiid never making the conference finals, the 2020-21 season is the real reason why.
Philadelphia never had a clearer path than it did in 2021, when it earned the No. 1 seed at 49-23 and made quick work of a 34-38 Wizards team in the first round. The Sixers instead had a hard time shaking Trae Young and the pesky Hawks in the second round, leading the series 2-1 early on but losing three of their last four to fall short of a date with the Bucks in the conference finals.
The 76ers lost 23 games in a shortened season, so they weren't an unforgettable team by any means, but this represented their best chance to prevent the memes you see today.
The Pistons had their share of doubters in the regular season because it had been so long since they last won a playoff series, but few believed a Magic team that disappointed all season long and had every expectation of firing coach Jamahl Mosley would have a chance to knock them out. Detroit simply has unraveled against Orlando, with shooting woes that occasionally surfaced during the regular season becoming a major issue and turnovers giving the Magic chances even when the shots weren't falling.
As good as Cade Cunningham is, the Pistons didn't have the typical star power around him that you would expect from a No. 1 seed. They overcame it in the regular season, but it plainly isn't working in the playoffs.
5. 2001-02 New Jersey Nets
Record: 52-30
Playoff result: Lost in NBA Finals
The Nets did reach the NBA Finals in 2002, but the East was not up to par in comparison to the West that year. New Jersey won only 52 games in the regular season and narrowly escaped the Pacers in the opening round before getting past the Hornets and Celtics in the next two rounds.
The Nets were able to stay competitive in three of their four NBA Finals games against the Lakers, but they lacked the star power to win and were swept as L.A. completed a three-peat.
The Celtics were a fun story in 2017 with Isaiah Thomas playing some of his best basketball, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who believed they were winning the East over the Cavaliers when the playoffs began. Boston had to overcome a 2-0 series deficit against the Bulls in the first round and needed seven games to beat the Wizards in the conference semifinals. When it came time to face LeBron James and Cleveland, Boston was eliminated in five games.
The second No. 1 seed to lose in the first round, the 1998-99 Heat were in some ways just the victim of an anomaly. Miami won a three-way tiebreaker in a 50-game, lockout-shortened season to earn the top spot in the East, and the Heat only finished six games ahead of their first-round opponent, the experienced Knicks. New York erased the Heat in the best-of-five series, and a season that saw Alonzo Mourning finish as MVP runner-up ended abruptly.
A year before they surprisingly won a championship, the Pistons weren't quite ready in 2003. Detroit finished on top of a jumbled mess of Eastern Conference teams despite being only 50-32, and the Pistons fell behind 3-1 in the first round before surviving and advancing with three consecutive wins over the Magic.
Detroit would reach the conference finals, but a sweep at the hands of a 49-win Nets team ended the franchise's season.
1. 1993-94 Atlanta Hawks
Record: 57-25
Playoff result: Lost in second round
The Hawks won the tiebreaker over the Knicks to claim the No. 1 seed in the East in 1994, but they simply didn't look the part in the playoffs. Atlanta had to overcome two series deficits to escape a first-round scare from the Heat, and the run ended in the second round when Reggie Miller and the Pacers eliminated the Hawks in six games.
The season proved to be a bit of an anomaly for the Hawks, as it was sandwiched between 43- and 42-win campaigns. Atlanta also didn't have a single player who finished top-10 in MVP voting that season.
