Grizzlies clobber Thunder by 73 to set record for largest NBA win

The Memphis Grizzlies have smashed the National Basketball Association (NBA) record for margin of victory, clobbering the hapless Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79.

Thursday’s 73-point win easily topped the previous mark, which was The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 68-point spread over the Miami Heat, 148-80, on December 17, 1991.

Memphis – who were without their best player, injured all-star guard Ja Morant – used 12 players and nine of them reached double figures in scoring, with Jaren Jackson Jr’s 27 points leading the way.

With the score at halftime being 72-36, the Grizzlies just kept adding to the lead, eventually pulling ahead by as many as 78 points. It was the largest lead in any NBA game since 1996-97.

73 points?!?! That’s a fine

— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) December 3, 2021

The Grizzlies set a franchise record for shooting, making 62.5 percent from the field. They were also 52.8 per cent from the three-point range. Reserves De’Anthony Melton scored 19 points, Santi Aldama had 18 and John Konchar added 17 for the Grizzlies.

“Man, it feels great,” Melton said after the game. “It feels great to be in the history books, especially in front of our home crowd.

“We did it one through 15. Everybody contributed.”

Taylor Jenkins, the Memphis coach, said: “Franchise records are obviously great. Proud of our guys that they don’t think about that.

“We’re just motivated by what are our standards every single night. Tonight was on pretty full display both offensively and defensively.”

The lowly Thunder now have the records for the largest road loss and the largest home loss in league history. In May, they were beaten at home by 57 points by the Indiana Pacers.

“Tonight is not necessarily who we are,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I think we’ve definitely shown that from a competitive standpoint. This isn’t indicative of who our team is.”