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2026-27 · Regular season
Defending champion Knicks at 0-3, Thunder at 4-0 for a third straight year: the NBA’s unbeaten and winless teams in numbers
Oklahoma City is the first team since at least 2000-01 to start 4-0 three seasons in a row, Houston and Memphis are 4-0 for the first time since 2014-15, and the defending champion Knicks are 0-3. What history says about every unbeaten and winless team.
In this article
Fifty-two games into the 2026-27 season, three teams are still perfect after four games. The Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder all won on Monday to reach 4-0, and the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers are 3-0. At the other end, the Miami Heat are 0-4, and the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and the defending champion New York Knicks are 0-3.
We checked every team’s first four games in the 22 seasons since the league went to 30 teams in 2004-05, using ESPN and Basketball-Reference team schedules, to see what starts like these have meant. A few of this year’s are rare.
The numbers that stand out
- Oklahoma City is the first team to start 4-0 in three straight seasons since at least 2000-01
- Houston and Memphis are both 4-0 for the first time since 2014-15, when they did it in the same season
- The Knicks are the first defending champion to lose its first three games since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks
- Miami is 0-4 for the first time since 2007-08, a season that ended 15-67
- Since 2004-05, 51 of the 59 teams that started 4-0 reached the playoffs (86.4%). Only 10 of the 58 that started 0-4 did (17.2%)
- Eight of the last 22 champions started 4-0. None started 0-4, and none was worse than 2-2 after four games
What four games have meant since 2004-05
| Start after four games | Teams | Made the playoffs | Rate | Average wins per 82 games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-0 | 59 | 51 | 86.4% | 51.9 |
| 0-4 | 58 | 10 | 17.2% | 28.7 |
Three 4-0 teams is about normal. Since 2004-05 the number has ranged from one to five a season, and last season had four: Chicago, Philadelphia, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. A perfect start is not a guarantee, either. Eight of the 59 missed the playoffs, most recently last season’s Bulls, who finished 31-51.
Thunder: 4-0 again, and without half the rotation
Oklahoma City’s last two 4-0 starts turned into a title and a Game 7. The Thunder went 68-14 and won the championship in 2024-25, then went 64-18 in 2025-26 and lost the seventh game of the West finals at home to San Antonio. No other team since at least 2000-01 has opened three straight seasons 4-0.
| Season | Start | Final record | How it ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 4-0 | 68-14 | Won the NBA title |
| 2025-26 | 4-0 | 64-18 | Lost Game 7 of the West finals |
| 2026-27 | 4-0 | — | — |
This start has been built on defense. The Thunder have allowed 100.8 points a game and about 98.1 points per 100 possessions, the third-best mark in the league behind Toronto (95.6) and Portland (98.0). Their offense ranks only 16th at 108.3, and they are shooting 34.6% from three.
Monday’s 125-114 win over Phoenix came without Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, who are both headed for surgery, and without Chet Holmgren. Alex Caruso then sprained his right ankle in the second quarter and did not return. Ajay Mitchell filled the gap with a career-high 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 27.2 points.
Video: NBA / X.
Rockets and Grizzlies: back to 2014-15
Since 2000-01, the only other season in which Houston or Memphis started 4-0 was 2014-15, when both did it. That season the Rockets won 56 games and reached the West finals, and the Grizzlies won 55 and reached the second round. Golden State, the third 4-0 team that year, won the title.
Houston is plus-39 with the league’s third-best offense, at 117.6 points per 100 possessions. Alperen Şengün is averaging 24.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists, and on Monday he had 29 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and a career-high six steals in a 120-110 win over Atlanta. Kevin Durant is averaging 23.5. The one problem is the ball security. Houston had 22 turnovers on Monday, its most of the season.
Memphis is also plus-39, and three of its four wins have come on the road, at Golden State, Sacramento and Utah. Ty Jerome is averaging 29.8 points, including 45 on opening night, and the Grizzlies are making 39.3% of their threes. Rookie Cameron Boozer is averaging 15.2 points and 10.5 rebounds but has shot 18-for-61 (29.5%). Memphis started 0-4 as recently as 2023-24 and finished 27-55 that season.
Pistons and Lakers: the other unbeaten teams
Detroit and Los Angeles have the two best net ratings of the unbeaten teams, both about plus-12 per 100 possessions. The Pistons have allowed 102.5 points per 100, and Duncan Robinson has made 15 of his 28 threes. The Lakers have the league’s best offense at 122.8, with Luka Dončić averaging 34.3 points, the most in the league. Portland, the only other team without a loss at 2-0, visits the Lakers on Tuesday night.
Knicks: a champion’s cold start
New York has lost to Philadelphia 106-100, at Boston 107-103 and to Orlando 111-102, by a combined 19 points. The Knicks led all three games, by as many as 10, 5 and 12 points. The problem is the offense. At about 99.2 points per 100 possessions and 101.7 points a game, it is the worst in the league. The Knicks are 36-for-111 (32.4%) from three, and Jalen Brunson is averaging 22.7 points on 25-for-64 shooting (39.1%). Their defense, at 105.4, ranks 10th.
Since 2002-03, the only other defending champion to lose its first three games was the 2011-12 Mavericks, who finished 36-30 in the lockout-shortened season and still made the playoffs. Last season’s Knicks were 2-3 after five games and went on to win 53 games and the title. Their next chance comes against unbeaten Detroit at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (3 a.m. Wednesday in Cairo).
Heat: 0-4, but getting closer
Miami has lost to Minnesota by 25, to Detroit by 17, at Charlotte by five and to Dallas by four on Monday, 113-109. The Heat have been outscored by 51 points, the second-worst differential in the league after Chicago’s minus-75. Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 28.5 points and had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists on Monday.
History is not kind to 0-4 teams. Only 11 of the 58 since 2004-05 finished .500 or better. The best of them was the 2006-07 Mavericks, who lost their first four games and then won 67.
The unbeaten and winless teams after Monday
| Team | Record | Point differential | Offensive rating | Defensive rating | Net rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City | 4-0 | +42 | 108.3 | 98.1 | +10.2 |
| Houston | 4-0 | +39 | 117.6 | 108.1 | +9.5 |
| Memphis | 4-0 | +39 | 114.2 | 104.7 | +9.5 |
| Lakers | 3-0 | +39 | 122.8 | 110.3 | +12.5 |
| Detroit | 3-0 | +38 | 114.8 | 102.5 | +12.3 |
| Miami | 0-4 | -51 | 102.7 | 114.7 | -12.0 |
| New Orleans | 0-3 | -10 | 114.9 | 118.0 | -3.1 |
| New York | 0-3 | -19 | 99.2 | 105.4 | -6.2 |
| Brooklyn | 0-3 | -38 | 103.9 | 115.7 | -11.9 |
| Sacramento | 0-3 | -44 | 105.1 | 119.2 | -14.1 |
Ratings are points per 100 possessions, estimated from the box scores. The other 0-3 teams are in different situations. New Orleans has lost by a combined 10 points. Sacramento has the worst defense of the group, at 119.2, even with Domantas Sabonis averaging 17.3 rebounds. Brooklyn has trailed by at least 10 in all three games.
What comes next
All four of Tuesday’s games involve one of these teams. Brooklyn plays in Boston at 7:30 p.m. ET, Detroit visits New York and Sacramento plays in San Antonio at 8 p.m. ET, and Portland visits the Lakers at 11 p.m. ET (6 a.m. Wednesday in Cairo). If the Knicks lose, they will be the first defending champion to start 0-4 since at least 2002-03. If Detroit wins, it will join the 4-0 club.
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