The Oklahoma City Thunder visited the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night and the result was a historic one.
Early Thursday afternoon the Oklahoma City Thunder announced star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had entered the league’s concussion protocol due to an injury sustained the night before vs. the Houston Rockets.
Because the Thunder’s top-pick Josh Giddey was already out due to the flu, it was clear long before tip-off OKC was in for a long night against the Memphis Grizzlies, but nobody could have anticipated how historic the contest would be.
The Grizzlies won the contest wire-to-wire 152-79, this was the largest margin of defeat in the league’s 75-year history. It was dangerously close to being only the second instance in league history to have the winning score double the number of points as the opponent.
The first and only instance that occurred was on February 27, 1998, when the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Indiana Pacers 124-59.
The Grizzlies doubled up the Thunder at halftime, leading 72-36.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 3, 2021
It's the largest halftime lead in Grizzlies history and tied for the largest halftime deficit in Thunder/SuperSonics history. pic.twitter.com/oLFRWAbnRA
Stats and numbers that stand out from Thunder vs. Grizzlies
- Highest scoring game in Grizzlies franchise history, passing the previous mark of 144.
- 35th game since the 1990-91 season where a team scores 150 or more, in a non-overtime contest.
- Largest margin of defeat in Oklahoma City Thunder history surpassing the old mark of 57.
- First game in 21 years where a team scored more points in the paint than the opponent’s total points scored.
- First game in NBA history where the winning margin is 70 points or more.
Last May, the Thunder lost a home game by 57 points to the Pacers.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 3, 2021
Tonight, they lost a road game by 73 points to the Grizzlies.
The Thunder now have the largest road loss and the largest home loss in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/tyq3Im2CIQ
Where do these teams go from here?
Well, the only place for the Thunder to go is up, literally. Full perspective, Oklahoma City was without Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey, both of whom have established themselves as the two best players and the foundation of the still rebuilding franchise. When you take the two best players off an already talent-laden team, this is what the result can manifest into.
As for the Grizzlies, they are now 3-0 since rising superstar Ja Morant went down with a knee injury. Fortunately for Morant and Memphis, his knee injury was not as serious as initially feared and he should be back on the hardwood within a few weeks.
Currently, the Grizzlies sit fifth in the Western Conference at 12-10 and a full three games inside the play-in tournament. If Memphis maintains while Morant is sidelined they will likely be able to remain in the top-six in the West and avoid the play-in tournament altogether.
Memphis’ first chance to build off their historic performance will come on Saturday night when they visit the Mavericks in Dallas in a pivotal matchup. Whereas Oklahoma City has a few days to sit and stew over their horrendous performance as they will not be back in action until Monday when they visit the Detroit Pistons at the Little Caesars Arena.
Perhaps the extra time will allow SGA or Giddey an opportunity to make it back into OKC’s lineup. If not, the 4-18 Pistons are an opponent more on the same level as the 6-16 Thunder.