Magic a win from short list of 8-seeds to upset 1-seeds in NBA playoffs

The Detroit Pistons are on the verge of doing something only six NBA teams have ever done – and it's a group of teams they don't want to join. Should the 1-seed Pistons lose their first-round series to the 8-seed Orlando Magic , Detroit would become the seventh 1-seed in NBA history to lose a playoff series to an 8-seed. But if you dig deeper, Detroit's potential "accomplishment" gets even more ignominious.

Of the first six 1-seeds to fall to 8-seeds, two of them lost in a best-of-five series – the NBA switched to a best-of-seven format for the first round in 2003. Two of those teams were missing their best player for the majority of the series. And of the six losers, only two won at least 60 wins in the regular season.

The 2025-26 Pistons, meanwhile, are playing in a seven-game series with a healthy roster having won 60 regular-season games. In other words, there is no good excuse the Pistons can lean on for losing this series. Whether it would be the most embarrassing series loss in NBA history is up for debate.

But while you're preparing to make your case, let's recap the six times a 1-seed has fallen to an 8-seed in the NBA playoffs. [ 3 Pistons adjustments to watch in do-or-die Game 5, prediction vs Magic ] 1994: Denver Nuggets beat Seattle SuperSonics in five games The NBA expanded its playoff format to 16 teams in 1984, allowing 8-seeds to participate in the postseason for the first time. It took a full decade for a team to finally break through, the 8-seed Denver Nuggets in 1994.