At the end of every NBA season, few teams can look back at their schedule without some modicum of regret.

Some inexcusable losses cost teams when it comes to playoff seeding. Some are the difference between a team making the playoffs or falling into the play-in tournament. And some end up pushing a team into the lottery.

One thing they have in common? The teams would all like a do-over on those losses.

Here, we've ranked the five worst losses from the first week of the 2026-27 NBA season that teams will likely grow to rue.  

5. Hornets 115, Heat 110

Spoiler: This won't be the last time that you see the Miami Heat featured here.

Not much has gone right for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the new-look Heat thus far. Their season-opening losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons were somewhat excusable — even if the margin of both losses was eyebrow-raising — but losing to the Kon Knueppel- and Coby White-less Charlotte Hornets is another story entirely.

Both the Hornets and Heat were on the second night of a back-to-back in this game, so tired legs could have been a factor. However, the Atlanta Hawks blew out the Hornets by almost 50 points the night before, which helped limit the minutes for Charlotte's starters.

They took turns feasting on the Heat's defense, particularly with the Greek Freak in foul trouble. Brandon Miller (34 points), Dennis Schröder (25 points), Naz Reid (23 points) and Grayson Allen (20 points) all picked Miami apart, while Antetokounmpo was limited to only 14 points in 25 minutes before fouling out.

The Hornets are off to a 3-1 start this season despite being without Knueppel and White thus far, so they might just be better than expected, particularly after trading LaMelo Ball for Reid and draft picks this offseason. But losing to a team that got blown out by 47 points the previous night is not exactly a great look for the Heat.

4. Magic 111, Knicks 102

The New York Knicks got their first win of the season on Tuesday against the Jalen Duren-less Detroit Pistons. Prior to that, they lost their first three games of the year.

Two of those losses came against the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics. It's hard to get too bent out of shape about either of those. The same can't be said about Saturday's loss to the Orlando Magic, particularly since Paolo Banchero was out because of an ankle injury and Jalen Suggs left in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.

Jalen Brunson (28 points), Karl-Anthony Towns (22 points, 14 rebounds) and OG Anunoby (22 points) all did their part, while Josh Hart did typical Josh Hart things (13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals). But the Knicks got next to nothing out of Mikal Bridges (six points on 3-of-7 shooting) or their bench (11 total points combined).

In Banchero's absence, Franz Wagner finished with a near-triple-double (23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists), while Desmond Bane chipped in 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Tristan Da Silva (19 points) and Anthony Black (18 points) each singlehandedly outscored all of the Knicks' reserves, too.

"Games like this will tell us, our crap stinks. It does," Knicks head coach Mike Brown told reporters after the loss. "And we're the only ones who can do anything about it. There's no light switch we can just turn on and go and win the ballgame. Nobody's giving us anything, so we have to be better with the little things until we start shooting the ball."

3. Mavericks 113, Heat 109

Two nights after losing to the Hornets, the Heat had a chance to get their first win of the season. They were fairly heavy favorites against the Dallas Mavericks, although Cooper Flagg had other ideas.

Although Antetokounmpo went off for a 29-point, 14-rebound, 11-assist triple-double in 39 minutes, the Heat were no match for Flagg and the Mavericks. They blew a 12-point second-quarter lead to go into the locker room down by one at halftime, and the Mavs battled back from a four-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good with six minutes left.  

The Mavs are far less of a pushover with Kyrie Irving back in the fold than they were last year, as evidenced by their win over the Indiana Pacers in their second game of the season. With that said, they entered their game against the Heat as 7.5-point underdogs. They were not supposed to win.

After the game, Heat center Bam Adebayo told reporters that "the outside noise wants to make me the scapegoat" for the team's 0-4 start. Meanwhile, Heat point guard Davion Mitchell said he thought Adebayo is "still trying to figure it out" because "him and Giannis play in the same spaces."

It's always good when a loss forces you into existential questions in the first week of the season, right?

2. Trail Blazers 124, Suns 83

The Phoenix Suns were one of the league's most pleasant surprises last season. After trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and waive-and-stretching Bradley Beal, the Suns wound up improving by nine wins and snuck into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.

This year, they weren't catching anyone by surprise. The Portland Trail Blazers made that clear on opening night.

Midway through the first quarter, the Blazers had already jumped out to a 21-0 lead. By the end of the first quarter, it had ballooned to 43-12. From there, the Blazers just had to hold serve for the rest of the game.

The Suns traded a fully unprotected 2033 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Miles Bridges this past offseason. That's the type of win-now move that you'd expect from a legitimate championship contender, not a team that got rocked by 40-plus points in its season opener.

Then again, any team that trades an unprotected first-round pick for Miles Bridges deserves to be rocked by 40-plus points in its season opener. Maybe basketball karma does exist after all.

1. Warriors 134, Nuggets 114

From a big-picture perspective, the Heat's 0-4 start to the season is arguably more concerning than the Denver Nuggets going 1-2 to begin the year. But the Nuggets needed to mount a 23-point rally at home — and overcome some boo birds in the stands — just to get to overtime against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.

Two nights later, the boo birds were back out in droves when the previously winless Golden State Warriors came into Ball Arena and shellacked the Nuggets.

Rookie forward Yaxel Landeborg exploded for a career-high 31 points on 9-of-19 shooting, 12 rebounds and six assists, while Stephen Curry went a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, 3-of-3 from deep and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe from the most efficient 24 points someone could possibly score.

The Nuggets were without Cameron Johnson, but that doesn't explain away a 20-point loss to a Warriors team sans Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porziņģis and Moses Moody. Nor should it be any solace when Nikola Jokić aired his frustration with the boo birds after the game, telling reporters, "I think they are not real fans."

The Nuggets faced some stiff competition for the most embarrassing loss in the opening week of the season — including their own near-loss to the Pelicans — but in the end, they took home the (dis)honor. At least their crowd will have something to cheer about now.