The Memphis Grizzlies made history on Thursday night after they obliterated the Oklahoma City Thunder to the tune of a 152-79 win. The 73-point beatdown marked the largest margin of victory in the 75-year history of the NBA.
It's an understatement to say this game was a good ol' classic blowout. It's the greatest one of them all. Memphis led at 78 points at one point but eventually settled for the 73-point win when the buzzer sounded. Nonetheless, the Grizzlies still managed to break the previous record of 68 points, which was set nearly three decades ago on Dec. 17, 1991, when the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 148-80.
Thursday's historic drubbing had all kinds of wild stats that could make your brains explode. Here are six of them.
6 wild stats from Grizzlies win over Thunder
1. Grizzlies set multiple franchise records
To add to their historic evening, Memphis also set some in-house records of their own. Per Justin Kubatko, Creator of Basketball-Reference and the Grizzlies' official Twitter account, Memphis set franchise records for a bunch of stats, including points, field goals made, and assists.
As you can see, even Grizzlies rookie Santi Aldama joined in the fun. Aldama had the best game of his young career, finishing with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. In the process, he also went from being a seldom-used rookie to now being in the NBA's history books. The 20-year old Spaniard was a plus-50 in his 28 minutes on the floor. Per StatMuse, that marked the third-best plus-minus in a game in NBA history.
2. Thunder now own two dishonorable records
Near the end of the 2020-21 season, the Thunder lost to the Indiana Pacers at home by 57 points, which drew the largest home loss in NBA history. After Thursday night, Oklahoma City also now holds the record for the largest road loss in league history, per ESPN Stats and Info.
Yikes. Well, if you already hold the worst home loss ever, might as well nab the worst road loss as well, right? At least the record books look a little more aesthetic now.
3. Thunder fall to the bottom
The loss was so bad that Oklahoma City went from having the 5th worst point differential in the NBA to the worst in just 48 minutes of basketball, per HoopsHype.
Oklahoma City could almost chalk that loss to an equivalent of three or four losses. The Thunder, who are unquestionably tanking, certainly hope to count that as multiple losses as it heightens their chances for more ping pong balls in next years in NBA. Unfortunately for them, it's going to be marked down as just a solitary loss in the league standings.
4. Grizzlies outscoring Thunder in mind-boggling ways
Without any real rim protection out there, the Grizzlies dominated the Thunder inside the paint. Memphis scored a total of 82 inside points. Per ESPN Stats and Info, this is the first time a team has recorded more points in the paint than the other team's total points in over two decades. Furthermore, the Grizzlies bench also outscored the entire Thunder team by 14 points. This marked the first time a team's bench has outscored the opponent by more than 10.
Having no Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Josh Giddey out there certainly contributed to why the Thunder just couldn't generate any semblance of offense. This also played a part in these two mind-boggling stats.
5. Worst Plus-Minuses ever
According to StatMuse, a couple of Thunder players etched their names in the history books in terms of the worst plus-minus stats in a game in NBA history. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was a minus-56 and Lu Dort was a minus-53 on Thursday. Luckily for Robinson-Earl, former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Manny Harris holds the dishonorable distinction of having the worst single-game plus-minus ever when he went a minus-57 in a game during the 2010-11 season. Still, Robinson-Earl and Dort now find themselves in the top-3. They even supplanted teammate Isaiah Roby from his formerly no. 2 spot, when he went a minus-50 in a game last season.
Everybody and their mother know the Thunder are tanking away the season. But this is just an insane way of doing so. I mean, on the win-loss column, it does count as just one loss. But losing in the fashion they did is just embarrassing. Imagine what the 10 Thunder players must have felt as they went through that experience.
6. Grizzlies bumped up, but not quite
In the grand scheme of things, however, the win didn't completely erase Memphis' issues, especially on the defensive end. According to Dan Devine of The Ringer, the Grizzlies are still at a minus-19 on the season despite beating the Thunder by 73 points. Furthermore, they only managed to move up one spot in terms of defensive rating.
Well, at least they aren't at the bottom anymore, right?
What makes this even more impressive for Memphis is they did this without Ja Morant, who is still out with a knee sprain. Just imagine what more damage the Grizzlies could have if their superstar point guard was able to join in on the fun.