Oklahoma City Thunder lost NBA record 73 points

The bookies looked at the Grizzlies-Thunder match in Memphis on Thursday night, weighed all the factors and decided that the Grizzlies should be the nine-point favorite.

Yes, I think they covered it.

The Grizzlies lead 15 after a quarter, 36 in a half, and 51 after three quarters on their way to a 152-79 win. The winning margin of 73 is the largest in NBA history.

Even an arithmophobe can find some amazing numbers in Box score.

For example, the Thunder is outstripped by 56 points when Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (2 points on 0-7) is on the floor. Oklahoma City was ahead, 53-26, and had two steals ahead of 19 games.

On the plus side, they make 82% of their free throws, better than the Grizzlies’ 72%. Good thing too, or it could have really turned into an explosion.

The happier-looking Grizzlies numbers include 27 points in 9/11 shots for Jaren Jackson Jr and nine assists in 21 minutes for Tyus Jones. Santi Aldama scored a plus 52 despite coming on from the bench.

“It’s not who we are tonight,” Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault speak. Are not must, he say. Sorry.

He continued to philosophize a bit. “When you compete, you are exposed to high and low levels of competition. And the competition comes with great fun. It also comes with grief and frustration and anger.”

In favor of the Thunder, they were missing their top scorer, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who joined concussion protocol on Thursday. However, the Grizzlies do not have their own star, Ja Morant, who is suffering from a knee injury.

The Thunder have now lost eight straight games and sit at 6-16 in what one would always expect to be another rebuilding year (last season they were 22-50). They still have a better record than the Pelicans, Rockets, Magic and Pistons (4-18!). But none of those teams, not even the Pistons, have lost by 73.

The Thunder currently has a three-night break before Monday’s game at… the Pistons. Get your ticket now.

The previous record was set by the Cavaliers 1991-92, who beat the Heat, an eventual playoff team, by 68, 148-80. “I don’t know what we played, but it wasn’t basketball,” Glen Rice of the Heat say then.

That eclipsed the previous record of 63, set in 1972 by eventual champion the Lakers, who beat the Warriors by 30 points to Gail Goodrich.

Going further back, on Christmas Day 1960, Dolph Schayes and Hal Greer’s Syracuse Nats beat the Knicks, 162-100.

Ty Jerome, a former Virginia player who started Thursday’s game for Oklahoma City, was trying to find a silver lining Thursday night. “Our sophomore year of college, we were the first seed to ever lose to a 16th seed,” he told The Oklahoman after the game. “Like, that’s more embarrassing than this NBA game.”