On the eighth night of the NBA season, only four teams remain without a win; the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder all began the season with three straight losses. Clearly, the four teams are in different situations, yet none have found a way to win yet.
In order to see who will remain winless the longest, I will dive into each team’s injury situations, upcoming schedules, and the real reason as to why they haven’t won yet.
Cleveland Cavaliers
With the departure of Lebron James this offseason, no one gave the Cavs a good shot at the playoffs, yet not many would’ve expected them to lose their first three games of the season including a blowout loss to Atlanta Hawks.
Upcoming Schedule
10/24 – VS Brooklyn Nets
10/25 – @ Detroit Pistons
10/27 – VS Indiana Pacers
The Cavs have been clearly struggling on defense as they have given up a combined 264 points in the last two games. Aside from Caris LeVert, the Nets have been uninspiring offensively. The Nets also gave up 133 points from nine players in double figures to the Indiana Pacers on the first game of their road trip, so I give the Cavaliers the best chance to win tomorrow.
Chicago Bulls
So far on the season, Zach Lavine has torn up the NBA despite his teams’ lack of wins. He has averaged over 32 points per game on 62% shooting from the field. Aside from their first game of the season, the Bulls have kept their games close against the Pistons and Mavericks.
Upcoming Schedule
10/24 – VS Charlotte Hornets
10/26 – @ Charlotte Hornets
10/27 – @ Atlanta Hawks
The Bulls upcoming schedule is clearly the easiest among the winless teams. With two games matched up against a very one-dimensional Hornets team, I’d hope that the Bulls would figure out Kemba Walker in at least one of the games. That being said, I believe the Bulls will win their second matchup against the Hornets in order for them to get used to the new and improved Kemba Walker.
Los Angeles Lakers
Not only his Lebron’s old team 0-3, but his new team is too. The last time Lebron began a season with three straight losses was 2004, and he has never lost a fourth straight game. That being said, the Lakers have kept every single game interesting til very late, when very situational basketball falls apart, whether that be a fight or two missed free throws with the game on the line.
Upcoming Schedule
10/24 – @ Phoenix Suns
10/25 – VS Denver Nuggets
10/27 – @ San Antonio Spurs
The Lakeshow’s number one shot at a win in their first six games is clearly tomorrow in Phoenix. After all, the Nuggets haven’t lost a game this season and the Spurs have already defeated the Lakers in an intense overtime battle, so let’s dive into the Suns matchup tomorrow. As one might guess, the Suns are lead solely by Devin Booker… You know what? There’s no way Lebron lets his team lose four straight. Put a win and a huge Lebron performance in the books right now.
Oklahoma City Thunder
It isn’t clear what has gone wrong with Oklahoma City in their first three games. In game one, they kept a close matchup with Golden State sans Russell Westbrook, but they couldn’t come out on top. They lost a very uninspiring matchup with the Clippers in game two, and in Russell Westbrook’s debut, the Kings easily outclassed the Thunder.
Upcoming Schedule
10/25 – VS Boston Celtics
10/28 – VS Phoenix Suns
10/30 – VS Los Angeles Clippers
With the Thunder clearly still learning to play with each other, they may continue to struggle. Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook are still getting used to each other, and I’m not sure what’s wrong with Paul George. Their schedule isn’t doing them any favors either; a matchup against the Boston Celtics one day later than the rest of the winless teams puts them in a tough spot. If they lose to the Celtics which they most likely will, it’d be tough to win a game before any of the other winless teams do.
