Memphis Grizzlies guard Jarrett Culver (23) goes to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (50) during the second half at FedExForum, Memphis December 2, 2021. — Reuters pic
LOS ANGELES, Dec 3 — The Memphis Grizzlies clobbered the hapless Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79 on Thursday, as nine players reached double figures to give them the largest margin of victory in National Basketball Association history.
“Man, it feels great,” said reserve De’Anthony Melton. “It feels great to be in the history books, especially in front of our home crowd.
“We did it one through 15. Everybody contributed.”
The Grizzlies won by 73 points and are the first team in league history to win by at least 70. The previous mark of 68 points was held by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hammered the Miami Heat 148-80 on December 17, 1991.
American Jaren Jackson led the assault with 27 points, while Spanish power forward Santi Aldama finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have won three straight despite being without injured all-star guard Ja Morant.
“We had to be better. We got to keep locking in defensively. When our defense and our offense are going, we are a deadly team,” said Melton.
The Grizzlies bench stepped up mightily as six of the seven reserves finished in double figures including Melton, who shot eight of 10 from the floor and made three of five three-point attempts en route to 19 points in front of a crowd of 18,400 at FedExForum in Memphis.
Memphis led 72-36 at halftime and kept cranking up the intensity, eventually pulling ahead by as many as 78 points. It is the largest lead in any NBA game since 1996-97.
“We knew with (Morant) going down what we had to do,” Melton said. “We had to step up.”
Not ‘who we are’
The lowly Thunder now have the records for the largest road loss and the largest home loss in league history. In May, the Thunder were beaten at home by 57 points by the Indiana Pacers.
“Tonight is not necessarily who we are,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I think we’ve definitely shown that from a competitive standpoint. This isn’t indicative of who our team is.”
Elsewhere, Fred VanVleet scored 29 points as the Toronto Raptors halted the Milwaukee Bucks’ eight-game winning streak with a 97-93 win in Toronto.
Pascal Siakam added 20 points, and Scott Barnes chipped in 13 for the Raptors, who ended a five-game home losing streak. Siakam fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Jrue Holiday scored 26 points, Khris Middleton added 22 and Bobby Portis had 15 for the Bucks.
Superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play for the Bucks because of a sore calf. Journeyman DeMarcus Cousins also did not play after making his Bucks’ debut on Wednesday.
Toronto was without injured OG Anunoby (hip pointer) and Khem Birch (knee).
The Raptors led by 11 in the third quarter and took a five-point cushion into the fourth. — AFP