List of National Basketball Association longest losing streaks

This is a list of the longest regular season losing streaks in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. Streaks started at the end of one season are carried over into the following season.

The Philadelphia 76ers lost 28 straight games spanning two seasons: 2014–15 and 2015–16, the most consecutive losses in NBA history. The 76ers broke their own previous record of 26 consecutive losses set in the 2013–14 season. The 2013–14 76ers are still tied with the 2010–11 Cleveland Cavaliers for the longest single season losing streak.

The New York Knicks have the record for postseason losing streak. New York lost 13 straight playoff games over 11 seasons. The Sacramento Kings have the largest span of drought, needing 15 seasons to get a playoff win.

There is one active streak of postseason futility. At the end of the 2014–15 season, the Detroit Pistons have lost 10 playoff games in a row.

Key

^		Denotes streaks that spanned over two seasons
		Denotes streaks that are currently in progress

Streak

Regular season

Rank	Games	Team	Season(s)	Season record(s)	Date	Score	Opponent	Date	Score	Opponent
					Beginning (first defeat)			End (first victory)
1	28 (10 + 18)	Philadelphia 76ers^	2014–15 2015–16	18–64 10–72	March 27, 2015	98–119	Los Angeles Clippers	December 1, 2015	103–91	Los Angeles Lakers
2 (tie)	26	Cleveland Cavaliers	2010–11	19–63	December 20, 2010	90–101	Utah Jazz	February 11, 2011	126–119	Los Angeles Clippers
2 (tie)	26	Philadelphia 76ers	2013–14	19–63	January 31, 2014	99–125	Atlanta Hawks	March 29, 2014	123–98	Detroit Pistons
4	24 (19 + 5)	Cleveland Cavaliers^	1981–82 1982–83	15–67 23–59	March 19, 1982	97–119	Milwaukee Bucks	November 10, 1982	132–120	Golden State Warriors
5 (tie)	23	Vancouver Grizzlies	1995–96	15–67	February 16, 1996	100–110	Atlanta Hawks	April 3, 1996	105–103	Minnesota Timberwolves
5 (tie)	23	Denver Nuggets	1997–98	11–71	December 9, 1997	83–92	Detroit Pistons	January 24, 1998	99–81	Los Angeles Clippers
5 (tie)	23	Charlotte Bobcats	2011–12^[A]	7–59	March 19, 2012	80–105	Philadelphia 76ers	November 2, 2012	90–89	Indiana Pacers
8	21 (14 + 7)	Detroit Pistons^	1979–80 1980–81	16–66 21–61	March 7, 1980	105–106	Washington Bullets	October 25, 1980	112–109	Houston Rockets
9 (tie)	20	Philadelphia 76ers	1972–73	09–73	January 9, 1973	110–126	Chicago Bulls	February 14, 1973	106–104	Milwaukee Bucks
9 (tie)	20 (12 + 8)	New York Knicks^	1984–85 1985–86	24–58 23–59	March 23, 1985	105–113	Kansas City Kings	November 12, 1985	103–93	Phoenix Suns
9 (tie)	20	Dallas Mavericks	1993–94	13–69	November 13, 1993	100–101	Utah Jazz	December 23, 1993	93–89	Minnesota Timberwolves
9 (tie)	20 (4 + 16)	Los Angeles Clippers^	1993–94 1994–95	27–55 17–65	April 18, 1994	131–134	Golden State Warriors	December 7, 1994	96–94	Milwaukee Bucks
13 (tie)	19 (4 + 15)	Philadelphia 76ers^	1971–72 1972–73	30–52 9–73	March 21, 1972	111–117	Atlanta Hawks	November 11, 1972	114–112	Houston Rockets
13 (tie)	19	San Diego Clippers	1981–82	17–65	March 11, 1982	107–113	Kansas City Kings	April 15, 1982	129–123	Portland Trail Blazers
13 (tie)	19	Los Angeles Clippers	1988–89	21–61	December 30, 1988	109–124	Los Angeles Lakers	February 8, 1989	114–111	Houston Rockets
13 (tie)	19	Dallas Mavericks	1992–93	11–71	February 6, 1993	93–111	Denver Nuggets	March 17, 1993	102–96	Orlando Magic
13 (tie)	19	Vancouver Grizzlies	1995–96	15–67	November 7, 1995	88–99	Dallas Mavericks	December 15, 1995	104–100	Portland Trail Blazers
13 (tie)	19	Orlando Magic	2003–04	21–61	October 30, 2003	98–100	New Orleans Hornets	December 8, 2003	105–98	Phoenix Suns
13 (tie)	19 (1 + 18)	New Jersey Nets^	2008–09 2009–10	34–48 12–70	April 15, 2009	73–102	New York Knicks	December 4, 2009	97–91	Charlotte Bobcats
20 (tie)	18	Utah Jazz	1981–82	25–57	February 24, 1982	90–132	Boston Celtics	April 2, 1982	127–118	Kansas City Kings
20 (tie)	18	Boston Celtics	2006–07	24–58	January 7, 2007	79–87	Orlando Magic	February 14, 2007	117–97	Milwaukee Bucks
20 (tie)	18 (15 + 3)	Minnesota Timberwolves^	2010–11 2011–12	17–65 26–40	March 13, 2011	77–100	Golden State Warriors	January 1, 2012	99–82	Dallas Mavericks
20 (tie)	18	Charlotte Bobcats	2012–13	21–61	November 26, 2012	69–114	Oklahoma City Thunder	December 31, 2012	91–81	Chicago Bulls
24 (tie)	17	San Francisco Warriors	1964–65	17–63	December 20, 1964	111–113	Philadelphia 76ers	January 28, 1965	105–90	Cincinnati Royals
24 (tie)	17	San Diego Rockets	1967–68	15–67	January 18, 1968	126–129	Cincinnati Royals	February 18, 1968	111–106	Philadelphia 76ers
24 (tie)	17	Miami Heat	1988–89	15–67	November 5, 1988	91–111	Los Angeles Clippers	December 14, 1988	89–88	Los Angeles Clippers
24 (tie)	17	Orlando Magic	1991–92	21–61	December 4, 1991	115–124	Portland Trail Blazers	January 8, 1992	104–103	Seattle SuperSonics
24 (tie)	17	Dallas Mavericks	1993–94	13–69	February 26, 1994	99–110	Cleveland Cavaliers	April 5, 1994	88–80	Sacramento Kings
24 (tie)	17	Toronto Raptors	1997–98	16–66	November 6, 1997	92–109	Seattle SuperSonics	December 10, 1997	104–97	Philadelphia 76ers
24 (tie)	17	Los Angeles Clippers	1998–99	09–41	February 5, 1999	92–101	Phoenix Suns	March 11, 1999	106–92	Sacramento Kings
24 (tie)	17	Los Angeles Clippers	1999–00	15–67	March 15, 2000	78–98	Sacramento Kings	April 19, 2000	114–106	Seattle SuperSonics
24 (tie)	17	Philadelphia 76ers	2014–15	18–64	October 29, 2014	91–103	Indiana Pacers	December 3, 2014	85–77	Minnesota Timberwolves

• ^A Streak carried over into the following season, but it was broken with a win on the first game of the season.

Playoffs

This list contains only streaks consisting entirely of postseason games.

Rank	Games	Team	Season started	Season ended	Number of years	Date	Score	Opponent	Date	Score	Opponent
						Beginning (first defeat)			End (first victory)
1	13	New York Knicks	2000–01	2011–12	11	May 2, 2001	93–100	Toronto Raptors	May 6, 2012	89–87	Miami Heat
2 (tie)	12	Memphis Grizzlies	2003–04	2010–11	7	April 17, 2004	74–98	San Antonio Spurs	April 17, 2011	101–98	San Antonio Spurs
2 (tie)	12	Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets	2001–02^[B]	2015–16	14	May 12, 2002	79–89	New Jersey Nets	April 23, 2016	96–80	Miami Heat
4 (tie)	11	Baltimore Bullets	1964–65	1969–70	5	April 11, 1965	112–120	Los Angeles Lakers	March 29, 1970	127–113	New York Knicks
4 (tie)	11	Denver Nuggets	1987–88	1993–94	6	May 15, 1988	103–124	Dallas Mavericks	May 2, 1994	110–93	Seattle SuperSonics
6 (tie)	10	Kansas City/ Sacramento Kings	1980–81	1995–96	15	April 24, 1981	88–92	Houston Rockets	April 28, 1996	90–81	Seattle SuperSonics
6 (tie)	10	New Jersey Nets	1983–84	1991–92	8	May 8, 1984	82–94	Milwaukee Bucks	April 28, 1992	109–104	Cleveland Cavaliers
6 (tie)	10	Portland Trail Blazers	1999–00	2002–03	3	June 4, 2000	84–89	Los Angeles Lakers	April 27, 2003	98–79	Dallas Mavericks
6 (tie)	10	Detroit Pistons	2007–08	active		May 28, 2008	102–106	Boston Celtics
10 (tie)	9	New York Knicks	1952–53	1954–55	2	April 5, 1953	71–73	Minneapolis Lakers	March 16, 1955	102–95	Boston Celtics
10 (tie)	9	Milwaukee Bucks	2009–10	2014–15	5	April 30, 2010	69–83	Atlanta Hawks	April 25, 2015	92–90	Chicago Bulls

• ^B Final season of the original Charlotte Hornets. Later moved to New Orleans and renamed the Pelicans. As part of a deal with the NBA and the Pelicans, the renamed Hornets, formerly the Charlotte Bobcats, reclaimed the history and records of the 1988–2002 Hornets, while all of the Hornets' records during their time in New Orleans from 2002 to 2013 remained with the Pelicans.^[1]

References

1. Hornets all the buzz in Charlotte. ESPN, 2014-05-20.

• Basketball-Reference.com list of longest losing streaks
• Basketball-Reference.com list of longest playoffs losing streaks