Worst No. 1 seeds in NBA history: How 2026 Pistons nearly compared to all-time playoff chokes originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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.

In the end, the Pistons were able to complete a 3-1 series comeback against the Orlando Magic, avoiding an all-out collapse and advancing to the second round of the playoffs following some struggles. They would have become the seventh No. 1 seed to lose in their first round.

With the Pistons avoiding elimination in the first round, they've likely kept themselves safe from ranking among the worst No. 1 seeds in NBA history — but a quick second-round exit could re-ignite those conversations for Detroit.

Here's a look at some of the worst No. 8 seeds the NBA has seen since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984.

MORE:Every No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in NBA history

Worst No. 1 seeds in NBA history

12. 2022-23 Milwaukee Bucks

• Record: 58-24

• Playoff result: Lost in first round

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.

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.

11. 2000-01 San Antonio Spurs

• Record: 58-24

• Playoff result: Lost in conference finals

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.

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10. 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks

• Record: 60-22

• Playoff result: Lost in conference finals

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.

9. 2013-14 Indiana Pacers

• Record: 56-26

• Playoff result: Lost in conference finals

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.

MORE:14 most devastating playoff injuries in NBA history

8. 2017-18 Toronto Raptors

• Record: 59-23

• Playoff result: Lost in second round

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.

7. 2025-26 Detroit Pistons

• Record: 60-22

• Playoff result: TBD

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.

Over the first few games of the series, Detroit simply 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.

However, the Pistons can still play themselves off this list — they deserve their credit for fighting and completing a 3-1 comeback in Game 7, just the 15th team ever to do so. But with a quick exit in the second round, Cade Cunningham and company could still wind up making their status as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference appear questionable.

6. 2020-21 Philadelphia 76ers

• Record: 49-23

• Playoff result: Lost in second round

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.

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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.

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4. 2016-17 Boston Celtics

• Record: 53-29

• Playoff result: Lost in conference finals

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.

3. 1998-99 Miami Heat

• Record: 33-17

• Playoff result: Lost in first round

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.

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2. 2002-03 Detroit Pistons

• Record: 50-32

• Playoff result: Lost in conference finals

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.