December 03, (THEWILL) – The Memphis Grizzlies trounced the Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79 on Thursday night, breaking the NBA record for largest margin of victory.
When John Konchar secured a steal and headed to the hoop, the game was long settled and the Memphis players were reduced to cheerleaders on the sideline.
With 3:02 left in the game, his right-handed slam put the Grizzlies up 145-67 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, setting a new team record for points in a game.
Memphis’ greatest lead on Thursday night was 78 points, but by the time it was over, the Grizzlies were still up 73 points thereby setting a new NBA record for the greatest victory margin.
The 73-point margin comfortably surpassed Cleveland’s previous high of 68 points in a win over Miami. On December 17, 1991, the Cavaliers defeated the Heat by a score of 148-80.
Memphis utilised 12 players, and nine of them scored in double figures, with Jarvis Jackson Jr. leading the way with 27 points. Memphis was without its best player, Ja Morant, who was out with an injury.
At halftime, the Grizzlies led 72-36, and they continued to extend their lead.
“I think there was some slippage defensively and I think before you know it, teams are in a rhythm and the game is out of hand,” Oklahoma City’s Mike Muscala said. “We didn’t fight, obviously. You’d rather go out fighting. You would rather go out putting your best foot forward and playing together.”
Last season, the Thunder came close to being on the losing end of the record, trailing Indiana by 67 points on May 1 before rallying to lose by just 57 points, 152-95.
This was much, much worse.
The Grizzlies set a team record for field goal percentage, making 62.5 percent of their attempts. The Grizzlies got 19 points from De’Anthony Melton, 18 points from Santi Aldama, and 17 points from Konchar, who did not even start.
Trying to offset the disappointment, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said: “Tonight is not necessarily who we are. I think we’ve definitely shown that from a competitive standpoint. This isn’t indicative of who our team is.”
In his post-match remarks, Konchar said: “At that moment, I didn’t know it was a franchise record. I just kind of saw the lane, and I dunked it. But it’s awesome.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
