The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Oklahoma City Thunder by 73 points on Thursday, the biggest win margin in NBA history.
With a final score of 152-79 – and no, no typo there – the Grizzlies took the youth class, rebuilding the Thunder in the most dominant style the league has ever seen.
The craziest part? They don’t even have a guardian for superstar Ja Morant. (To be fair, Oklahoma City is missing star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and incumbent Rookie of the Month Josh Giddey, but that doesn’t matter.)
Jaren Jackson Jr is the team’s top scorer with 27 points, which shows how hard winning really is. Nine different Grizzlies players scored doubles as the team hit 62.5 percent from the field and 52.8 percent from 3.
And while the final score and the deficit are enough to catch the eye, the box score is a work of art with tons of hidden gem stats.
Take a look at some of the most startling statistics from the Grizzlies’ record-setting win.
NBA League Pass: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7 days free trial)
The amazing stats from the Grizzlies’ 73-point win over the Thunder
The Grizzlies could have failed to score in the final 21 minutes and 39 seconds and still win.
Memphis scored 80th with 9:39 to play in the third quarter. The Thunder finished with a total of 79. Although the Grizzlies continued to score 72 (!) points after this point, they could have failed to score and still win the game.
The Grizzlies’ bench (83 points) outperformed the Thunder as a team.
Six of the nine Memphis players in double numbers are substitutes. Led by De’Anthony Melton by 19 points, the Grizzlies’ bench outperformed the entire OKC roster. Santi Aldama (18 points) John Konchar (17), Xavier Tillman Sr. (11), Brandon Clarke (11) and Jarrett Culver (11) were the only ones remaining to hit double digits.
Grizzlies outperform Thunder only in points in paint.
This is just absurd. Grizzlies have 82 points in paint; The Thunder have 79 points as a team. It’s a line speed layout game in Memphis.
THAN: What are the biggest winning streaks in NBA history?
Santi Aldama scored +/- plus 52 in 28 minutes – the third best +/- of any game in NBA history.
Aldama, the 30th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, is a Hispanic rookie from Loyola University Maryland. In just his 11th game of his NBA career, he scored the third-best plus or minus in NBA history. He’s never scored at doubles or won double-digit rebounds, and he’s done both in this competition, scoring his first career double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (-56) and Luguentz Dort (-53) finished with the second and third worst +/- scores of any game in NBA history.
Of course, there must be some bad statistics on the other side of this result.
Rookie Robinson-Earl, the 32nd overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Villanova, had the worst +/- score on the team. He equalized 0 for 7 from the pitch and scored two points on the night.
For what it’s worth, this was a more stellar performance for the young striker, who has played superbly for OKC this season. In his last 5 games, he’s scored two brace while averaging 10.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Dort, a defensive specialist who has already begun to make a name for himself across the league, has the second worst +/- stats on the team. However, he finished with the top 15 of the team.
Like Robinson-Earl, Dort is as brilliant as he has been in the Thunder this year. Defense was his calling card, but he hit a career-high 16.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
The Grizzlies’ quarter-by-quarter scoring rate is ridiculous.
Memphis was 15 points ahead of the Thunder in the first quarter, 21 points in the second quarter, 15 points in the third quarter and 22 points in the fourth quarter. OKC doesn’t even come close to capturing a single frame.
The Grizzlies’ offense rose from 12th in the NBA to sixth in a single game.
Before the start of this game, the Grizzlies’ offensive rating was 109.1, the 12th best in the NBA. After the opening game of 152 points, their offensive index increased to 111.1, the sixth best in the NBA.
While the second number is now somewhat misleading, this offensive result is a positive sign for a team with the second worst defensive rating in the NBA.
