The Sixers are bad. This is by design of course, but its fair to say that most people didn’t think it would be this bad, look this bad, hurt this bad. And nothing hurts more that setting NBA records for futility. This year’s squad already demolished the franchise record for most consecutive losses to start the season, besting the 15 straight losses that the infamous ’72-73 squad rattled off with their current 0-17 start to the season. And at this point the safe money is on the Sixers owning all relevant records by the end of this season. Well I have no doubt that the Sixers will lose a ton of games this year, but I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the Sixers will not pick up anymore futility records the rest of the way.
Lets tackle the most imminent record first. The high (low?) watermark for losses to start a season is 18 by the 2009-2010 Nets, and the Sixers currently sit at 0-17. I’ve had my eye on tonight’s game against Minnesota since the start of the season. Almost feels like the NBA threw the Sixers this bone, like “Ok guys, here’s a real crap team to play the night before you tie the record, just to give you an out.” One would have to think the Sixers play up for this game, knowing it’s an excellent chance to break the streak. A win would also be some nice catharsis for those of us who wanted to go all in on Wiggins, and a nice way to say hi to our old friend Thad Young, currently plying his excellent trade up North (Miss you!) It just feels like the universe is aligning for the Sixers in this one. In fact, the website FiveThirtyEight ran 1,000 computer simulations on the Sixers season, and found that their season opening losing streak most commonly ended tonight in Minny. So lock it in – the streak ends tonight! (And of course if it doesn't, well then kill me for being a hopeless Sixers optimist.)
Once that streaks ends, talk will inevitably shift to if the Sixers will have the worst win-loss record in the history of the NBA? The Charlotte Hornets (nee Bobcats) own the record for worst win %, a robust .106, but that came in the lockout shortened 2010-11 season when they went 7-59. The 82-game season record is, of course, owned by your own Philadelphia 76ers, when that ’72-73 squad went 9-73. Most of the chatter I’ve heard is that the Sixers definitely break this record (if you break your own record for most losses in a season, does it make a sound?) I gotta say, I don’t see it happening and here’s why. First, the Sixers are going to get better as the season goes on. In fact, we can already see that happening. The Sixers lost their first 10 games by an average of 16.9 pts, then lost their next 7 games by an average of 10.8 pts. In that same split they’ve seen their FG% go from 40% to 42%, TOs drop from 18 per game to 16.2, and assists go from 19.7 to 21.7 per game. These trends won’t continue indefinitely, but the team will keep improving and will be in more games.
The Sixers have also played a brutal schedule so far this season, the 6th hardest in the NBA in fact as rated by Basketball-Reference’s SOS system. We’ve twice played the Mavs, Spurs, and Rockets already, an unusual scheduling quirk. This is not to say we are better than our record suggests, its more to say that we have a ton of games coming that are much more winnable. We’ve yet to play any of our seven games against the Hornets (self destructing) and the Pistons (potentially worse than the Sixers). We get 12 more games against the Atlantic Division, and while the Raps are legit, the Celtics, Knicks, and Nets are all beatable. We’ve yet to play any games against the 3 worst teams in the Western Conference (Lakers, Utah, Minny). That’s 25 games I just identified against horrible teams, and if we win 40% of them, we win 10 games. I just don’t see that record falling any time soon.
Finally, there is the record for longest losing streak, jointly shared by 2010-11 Cavaliers and last years Sixers squad. I guess technically we already have this record, but is it possible that we take sole ownership of this futility mark as well? Based on the fact that we have so many games against terrible teams remaining, I’d be inclined to say no. Last years squad lost to a bunch of terrible teams, but that also came after the trade deadline when ET and Spencer were shipped outta town and everyone’s roles shifted. If we’re going to take this record, looking at the Sixers schedule, I’d say it would have to come on the tail of this current 17 game losing streak. And since I’m CONVINCED we beat Minny tonight, then you have my answer.
Honestly the futility marks the Sixers are most likely to set this year are for team statistics. We’re currently murdering the game (in the bad sense) in things like offensive rating (30th), FG% (29th), 3pt % (29th), and FT% (30th), so don’t be surprised if we set some marks in those categories. But the Sixers WILL start winning some games, they’ll likely come in bunches a few times, and the records for win-loss futility (some of which we already own) will not change hands this season.
