The Washington Wizards are in the midst of another rebuild, but despite the low expectations for the club, this has been a disappointing start to the season. With their 124-114 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturdaythe Wizards finished the month of November winless at 0-14.
Washington becomes the 16th team History went winless for a whole month and now it's done – is that the right word in this scenario? – the feat in consecutive seasons. Last season, in the midst of a franchise-record 16-game losing streak, they fell 12-0 in February.
“The things we go through really test you mentally, physically and emotionally, and you have to keep reminding yourself that the really good and great players in this league and even in life don't run away from tough times “Wizards continues Corey Kispert said earlier this week. “Hard times like these we find ourselves in are what build strong character and help you move forward.”
Although the season hasn't even reached the quarter mark yet, this Wizards team is already in historically bad territory.
They are in last place at 2-16, and their winning percentage of .111 equates to nine wins on the season. In NBA history, the year is 1973 Philadelphia 76ers are the only team to win fewer than 10 games in an 82-game season. In terms of winning percentage, only the Sixers (.110) and 2012 Charlotte Bobcats (.106) have finished a season with lower marks.
While Saturday's contest was tougher than the 10-point margin suggests, it was the 13th time in this losing streak that the Wizards have lost by double digits. For the season, their net rating is minus-14.1 – not just the worst in the league, but one of the worst ever.
Team efficiency data on the NBA's statistics website dates back to the 1996-97 season, and during that span, the only team to post a worse net rating over the course of a season was the 2012 Bobcats, going 7-59 went out to a minus. 15.0 net rating in the lockout-shortened campaign.
The bad news for the Wizards is that the road isn't getting any easier. They are league leaders Cleveland Cavaliersfollowed by the Dallas Mavericks And Denver Nuggets is next on the program. Barring a major upset, the losing streak will soon reach 17 games, which would be the longest in franchise history.
