How high can you fly?

The Pistons and Spurs, two title contenders who were awful as recently as two years ago, face off Monday. Is there a recent precedent for a team to make a deep run without any recent playoff series victories?

Good morning. The Olympics industry now turns its gaze to Los Angeles. What could go wrong? Let's basketball.

When the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs meet on Monday, it'll be a highly anticipated battle between two teams that look like legitimately title threats on paper – Detroit's No. 1 with a bullet in the East, San Antonio is closer to No. 1 in the West than teams are to its own No. 2 slot. The other similarity the Pistons and Spurs have: neither have won a playoff series in several years. In fact, Detroit hasn't won a series since 2008; San Antonio last won a round in 2017.

Even in this high-parity era, can you win four playoff series in one run if your core hasn't won a single series to that point?

I looked at the history of our last 15 champions to find out, counting up the series they won in preceding three- and five-year periods.

2025: Thunder – one series win the season prior to the title year, no other series wins going back five years

2024: Celtics – five series wins over prior three seasons, eight over prior five years

2023: Nuggets – three series wins over prior three seasons, four over prior five years

2022: Warriors – three series wins over prior three seasons, 11 over prior five years

2021: Bucks – three series wins over prior three seasons, three over prior five years too

2020: Lakers – zero series wins over prior seven seasons

2019: Raptors – four series wins over prior three seasons, four over prior five years too

2018: Warriors – 11 series wins over prior three seasons, 12 over prior five years

2017: Warriors – seven series wins over prior three seasons, eight over prior five years

2016: Cavaliers – three series wins over prior three season, three over prior five years too

2015: Warriors – one series win over prior three seasons, one over prior five years too

2014: Spurs – five series wins over prior three seasons, six over prior five years

2013: Heat – seven series wins over prior three seasons, seven over prior five years too

2012: Heat – three series wins over prior three seasons, three over prior five years too

2011: Mavericks – one series win over prior three seasons, four over prior five years

Over 15 years, only one team won the champion without having won a single playoff series in the prior five years: the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers. The Bubble Team. A team that added Anthony Davis in the offseason after LeBron James showed up and failed to get a moribund mom-and-pop franchise to the playoffs. This team's obviously an anomaly, but it's still an example.

The two other closest examples to what Detroit and San Antonio are trying to do are the 2025 Thunder and the 2015 Warriors. Those pre-dynastic Golden State squads had made the playoffs twice before their first title run, beating the post-Melo Nuggets in a 3-6 upset in 2013 before getting beat by the eventual conference champion Spurs. The following year, they lost in the first round to the Clips in the Sterling Tapes Series. The 2024 Thunder smoked the Pelicans in a 1-8 series in their first playoff series in a few years before getting knocked out by Luka and the Mavericks in the second round.

The Spurs are like the 2020 Lakers in that they simply haven't been in the playoffs lately. The Pistons put up a strong fight as the underdog in a 3-6 series last season. Most other teams in the title mix this season – with the exception of the Rockets – have won recent series. (Houston's in the same situation as Detroit with a single playoff appearance in recent years, though is not considered a contender in the same way.)

This is all to say that what the Spurs and Pistons are trying to do does have relatively recent precedent. It is possible. But the example is an anomaly, which we might very well see its successor, should it happen, as.

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