The Kings are 0-5, the NBA's only winless team after losing to New Orleans

The Sacramento Kings are 0-5, the NBA's only winless team with 5 losses, per ESPN's standings. The Brooklyn Nets are the only other winless team, at 0-4 in 4 games. Sacramento has been outscored 551-634, a differential of minus-83 in total, scoring 110.2 points per game and allowing 126.8, for a per-game differential of minus-16.6, the worst in the league.

Game by game

• at LA Clippers: lost 121-96
• Portland: lost 128-120
• Memphis: lost 123-112
• at San Antonio: lost 130-103
• at New Orleans: lost 132-120

Where the edge comes from

The defense is the story, not one bad night. Sacramento has allowed at least 120 points in all 5 games: 121, 128, 123, 130 and 132. No other team has 5 losses, and the next-worst per-game differential belongs to Chicago at minus-16.2, on 570-651 for a differential of minus-81 in 5 games. Sacramento's margin is the worst, but it is narrow: 0.4 points per game separates Sacramento from Chicago.

The loss at New Orleans settled the league's last winless matchup. New Orleans entered 0-4, so the winner left with a first win and the loser stayed winless, and New Orleans won 132-120. Sacramento scored 120 points in that game and still lost by 12, because it allowed 132.

The skeptic's case, answered

The skeptic's case is the sample: 5 games is 5 games, and the gap to Chicago is only 0.4 points per game. Fair. But the record does not depend on the gap: Sacramento is the only team with 5 losses, and allowing at least 120 points in 5 consecutive games is a pattern across 5 opponents, not a single matchup. Brooklyn, at 0-4, has played 1 fewer game, so that distinction lasts only until Brooklyn plays its 5th game.

The caveat

The caveat: 5 games is 5 games, and the per-game differential lead over Chicago is 0.4 points. What can be said: through 5 games, no team in the NBA has fewer wins than Sacramento, no team has more losses, and no team has a worse per-game differential.