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No. 3: Feb. 28, 1998: Indiana Pacers beat the Portland Trailblazers 124-59 (65 points)
NBA legend and Indiana Pacers coach Larry Bird's comments said it all: "I don't think we've played defense any better than that." The Portland Trailblazers, who barely surpassed the NBA's all-time low in points, 57, shot just 33% (24 of 72) from the field, and an abysmal 42% (8 of 19) from the foul line.
It was the first time in NBA history that a winning team doubled up the losing squad.
Mark Jackson led seven Pacers in double figures with 18 points. Jalen Rose added 13 points, Rik Smits and Dale Davis 12 each and Reggie Miller 11.
Rasheed Wallace had 14 points to lead Portland, while Walt Williams had 13.
No. 2: Dec. 17, 1991: Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat 148-80 (68 points)
The 68-point win was the biggest in the NBA at the time. The game got so out of hand that a Danny Ferry 3-pointer made the margin the same as the next game on this list (73 points, played 30 years later) before Miami scored the game's final five points to "close" the final margin 68.
The lead was just 20 points at halftime, at 73-53, before exploding into the final result after a 43-15 fourth quarter.
Miami Heat coach Kevin Loughery pulled his starters in the second quarter, and the reserves played the rest of the way. After the Heat cut the lead to 36-30 in the second quarter, Cleveland essentially went on a 112-45 run.
The Cavaliers were a cohesive unit that day, and they dominated the Heat with no one scoring more than 18 points. Lenny Wilkens' comments postgame fit the bill: "Tonight was incredible." Spoken like a true Hall of Fame coach who was simply proud of his team that night.
No. 1: Dec. 2, 2021: Memphis Grizzlies beat the OKC Thunder 152-73 and set an NBA record (73points)
Jaren Jackson Jr. led all scorers with 27 points in the rout that made not only NBA history, but sports history. He had 6 3-pointers and shot 9 of 11 from the field.
Santi Aldama shot 8 of 16 for 18 points and was plus-52 in the rout. De'Anthony Melton shot 8 of 10 and added 19 along with his plus-46.
The rosters were short for both teams. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Theo Maledon, Derrick Favors, Aaron Wiggins and Vit Krejci were inactive for OKC. And Kyle Anderson, Yves Pons, Ziaire Williams, Ja Morant and Sam Merrill were inactive for the Grizzlies.
Nine Memphis players scored in double figures. Oklahoma City was playing the second game of a back-to-back. The Grizzles scored 93 points off the bench and shot 62% to the Thunder's 37%.
Luguentz Dort led OKC with 15 points and was minus-53; Jeremiah Robinson-Earl missed all seven of his shots and amassed a minus-56.
The 73-point win is the greatest points differential in NBA history and tied the Chicago Bears' 73-0 wipeout of the Washington Football Team in the 1940 NFL championship as the largest margin in American professional sports.
