We take a look at the teams across NBA history that ended the regular season with the worst win percentages at home.
We’ve already looked at the best single-season home records in history, so now let’s dive into the worst home records in an NBA season.
With the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons joining this list after poor 2023-24 seasons, it seemed time to go through those teams that have recorded the lowest winning percentages on their own court.
It’s not a single-season record anyone will want, but here are the teams that are stuck with the worst in history:
1. 1947-48 Providence Steamrollers – 2-18, .100
Providence had a somewhat unfortunate name given it was the team largely steamrolled in the 1947-48 season, especially at home.
Rhode Island Auditorium was not a happy place for either Albert Soar or Nat Hickey, the two head coaches across the season, as they combined to win just two of the 20 games there. Hickey even played two games at the age of 45, making him the oldest player in BAA/NBA history to this day.
The Steamrollers only recorded victories at home against the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics, and finished with a 6-42 overall record. One of the 11 original franchises in the NBA, the last professional sports franchise to be based in Rhode Island only existed between 1946 and 1949.
2. 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats: 4-29, .121
Want some of that sweet Michael Jordan influence? For any NBA team, that would surely be a dream. However, just over a year after MJ took the majority ownership, the Charlotte Bobcats – prior to becoming the Hornets – produced the second-worst single-season home record in NBA history.
Jordan could hardly be blamed for that, of course, but it wasn’t exactly the initial plan. The Bobcats won just four of 33 games at Time Warner Cable Arena (now Spectrum Center) in the 2011-12 season.
The season got off to a good enough start, beating the Milwaukee Bucks in the opening game, but Charlotte only added wins against the Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors at home after that. The last 25 games of the season ended in defeat, leading to a 7-59 record.
In case you were wondering, no, the Bobcats did not make the playoffs.
3. 1993-94 Dallas Mavericks – 6-35, .146
The Mavericks really struggled in the previous season, winning just 11 games throughout the 1992-93 campaign, and they improved just slightly a year later. While they won 13 games, the home record actually got worse.
Dallas’ seven wins at Reunion Arena in ’92-93 were followed by just six in ’93-94. Quinn Buckner was brought in as head coach, but it made little difference.
The Mavericks lost their first 19 home games of the season before finally beating the Sacramento Kings in late January. Victories followed against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Bullets, but the Mavs added 12 consecutive defeats after that.
Fortunately for Dallas, it won three of its last five home games – against the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and the Timberwolves again.
4. 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers – 5-26, .161
The Sixers had a chaotic start to the 1972-73 season, turning to inexperienced coach Roy Rubin and opening with a 15-game losing streak.
Philadelphia lost its first 10 home games before finally beating the Kansas City–Omaha Kings, but it took until February for the next one. Their 73 losses remain an NBA record for an 82-game regular season.
To the Sixers’ credit, the team put together quite a run from there at the Spectrum, beating the Milwaukee Bucks, Pistons, Baltimore Bullets, even the Knicks, who went on to win the NBA championship that season.
T-5. 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks: 7-34, .171
We’re back in Dallas and in a season we’ve already referenced. The Mavericks only won 11 games all season, but seven of those came at home.
A win over the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth home game suggested Dallas might do better than winning just six more times at Reunion Arena.
The wins were well spread out, too: The Mavericks won in mid-December against the Los Angeles Lakers, in mid-January against the Pistons, in early February against the Indiana Pacers, in mid-March against the Orlando Magic, in mid-April against the Nuggets and in the final home game of the season against the Timberwolves.
T-5. 2015-16 Philadelphia 76ers – 7-34, .171
Forty-three years after posting a .161 home win percentage, the Sixers nearly paid tribute to that team from the 1970s with an equally bad season. Mercifully, there was slight improvement.
Coach Brett Brown struggled to get a rise out of his team, having to wait until December for the first win at Wells Fargo Center (versus the Lakers).
The Sixers won three home games in January against the Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns, but didn’t maintain any consistent form.
Overall, Philadelphia only beat its franchise-worst season by one game, finishing 10-72. A home win against the New Orleans Pelicans with five games to go in the regular season spared the Sixers of matching their 9-73 record low.
T-5. 2023-24 Washington Wizards – 7-34, .171
It’s fair to say the Wizards had a 2023-24 season to forget. An overall record of 15-67 (.183) was the worst in the franchise’s history, and a 7-34 record at Capital One Arena tied Washington for the fifth-worst in NBA history.
The bold move by the new front office to trade star players Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis did not pay off. The Wizards won just three of 11 home games before the turn of the year, then lost 15 in a row before finally winning at home again in March against the Charlotte Hornets. Wins against the Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors occurred later in the month, but there was only one more at home before the season’s end.
Wes Unseld Jr. was relieved of his coaching duties in January, with Brian Keefe taking over as interim head coach. The scenario didn’t get any better for a while as the Wizards lost all 12 of their games in February, including six home games.
8. 2023-24 Detroit Pistons – 7-33, .175
The Wizards could at least take solace from the fact they didn’t have the worst overall record in the NBA in 2023-24. That “honor” was left to the Pistons, who finished bottom of the Eastern Conference for a second season running at 14-68 (.171).
Monty Williams replaced Dwane Casey as head coach, but very little changed in terms of on-court success. After winning two of their first three games of the season, the Pistons lost 28 games in a row, tied for the NBA record for consecutive losses. It included an 0-15 mark in November.
Some respectability was added to the Pistons’ record at Little Caesars Arena with three victories in a four-game period in March against the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors, but it was scant consolation ultimately.
Detroit ended up playing just 40 games at home and 42 on the road after the league moved its home game with the New York Knicks to Madison Square Garden to correct a previous scheduling issue due to the Knicks’ brief run in the knockout stage of the NBA In-Season Tournament.
T-9. 1967-68 San Diego Rockets – 8-33, .195
We’re up in the nosebleed territory of eight whole home wins in a season, but the Rockets failed to launch beyond that in 1967-68.
The team was in its first season in the NBA and even drafted Pat Riley, but his magic touch as a coach and executive was not there in his rookie campaign as his new team struggled to a 15-67 record.
In mid-November, the Rockets got their first home win of the season against the Chicago Bulls and hit some form in December when they won seven of 15 games, with four coming at home. The team really fell off after mid-January, though, winning just one of its last 33 games.
T-9. 1996-97 Vancouver Grizzlies – 8-33, .195
Another relatively new arrival to the league at the time, the Grizzlies were in just their second season, having gone 15-67 in their debut.
The only way was up, right? Not quite, Vancouver finished 14-68 in 1996-97, winning just eight of its games at General Motors Place.
The Grizzlies had five of those victories before Christmas and fell off alarmingly after that, winning just three of their last 27 at home.
T-9. 2009-10 New Jersey Nets – 8-33, .195
The Nets marked the final season at the Izod Center in one of the worst ways imaginable – by losing more than 80% of their games there.
It took until December for New Jersey’s first home win to arrive against the Charlotte Bobcats, which was one of just three overall wins in the first 43 games of the season.
The Nets improved in the second half of the season, but ended with a 12-70 mark. At least they won five of the last seven home games before moving on to the Prudential Center in 2010-11.
All Tied for 12th
- 1981-82 Cleveland Cavaliers – 9-32, .220
- 1982-83 Houston Rockets – 9-32, .220
- 1986-87 Los Angeles Clippers – 9-32, .220
- 1991-92 Minnesota Timberwolves – 9-32, .220
- 1997-98 Denver Nuggets – 9-32, .220
- 1997-98 Toronto Raptors – 9-32, .220
- 2004-05 Atlanta Hawks – 9-32, .220
- 2007-08 Miami Heat – 9-32, .220
- 2014-15 Minnesota Timberwolves – 9-32, .220
- 2018-19 Chicago Bulls – 9-32, .220
- 2018-19 New York Knicks – 9-32, .220
- 2022-23 Detroit Pistons – 9-32, .220
- 2023-24 Memphis Grizzlies – 9-32, .220
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